


Fingerprint Dusting

by Ninke_A, quiiiznak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Housekeeper, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Antok (Voltron) is the best bro, Awkward Flirting, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, background thulaz, kolivance - Freeform, pining kolivan (voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 21:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12219114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninke_A/pseuds/Ninke_A, https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiiiznak/pseuds/quiiiznak
Summary: Lance twisted his hands together, and was looking all around the room. He bit his lip and shifted from foot to foot. “I think I’m in trouble…”





	Fingerprint Dusting

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe we've finished another one! We hope you all enjoy this one, because we definitely enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Come talk to us on tumblr! [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com) [collector-of-hats](https://collector-of-hats.tumblr.com)

* * *

 

 

Kolivan paced back and forth in his living room. He sighed as he looked at his watch; he was - not so patiently - waiting for his new housekeeper, a Lance McClain.

 

He looked around at his place - it was a good size, not too large but also not too small. It was more than large enough for the meager furnishings that he possessed. All he had at the moment were the bare minimum - a couch, two chairs and end tables on either end of the couch. It was nice; it served its purpose, which honestly, wasn’t a whole lot more than sleeping, and eating seeing as he was rarely home anymore. He loved his house, but was sad to see it fall into disarray; he barely had enough time in the day to finish his work, let alone clean his home. He plopped down onto the couch; he was hopeful this time that the cleaning service that Antok had recommended would be a better fit than any of the previous ones that he had selected.

 

He groaned and let his head fall into his hands. To say that he had had bad luck choosing a cleaning service on his own had been an understatement. Hopefully the sixth time was the charm…

 

Rolo had just sat and watched his television and had the audacity to use drugs inside his home; Nyma had stolen from him; Sendak - he shook his head - Kolivan still wasn’t sure that Sendak had even showed up once; Plaxum had been… good. She had actually cleaned his home but was also really into feng-shui and had the habit of rearranging his furniture - she had even tried to color coordinate his files up in his office. The last person that Kolivan had hired had been Throk. He grimaced; Throk had been an absolute disaster. Kolivan had had to go out of town for a night and had made the mistake of trusting Throk with housesitting. The next day, after arriving back home, he had invited Thace, Antok, and Ulaz over for a few drinks and to decompress when he opened the door to a raging party.

 

 _Although_ , he thought, _maybe ‘party’ was too much of an understatement._ It looked more like a drunken orgy than anything else. There had been half-naked people all over the place. At least the agency that had sent Throk out had paid for his replacement sofa; there was no way that he  was gonna sit on the old one anymore. It had also helped that they had arrested the majority of the party goers.

 

Kolivan had been in the police department for years. _Too many years to count_ , he thought to himself. He had worked his way up from a simple patrolman to a detective in the Major Crimes Unit. During that time, he had only been able to afford a small apartment, so he had been able to keep up with the cleaning and housekeeping on his own - not one for clutter or disarray, he had been vigilant in keeping his apartment almost spotless.

 

But now… He had been transferred to a new department - he was a detective - and as such, he spent the majority of his time at the station or out in the field closing cases for the local police department. With that transfer had come many more responsibilities and longer hours. True, that transfer had happened years ago, and he had more than an ample amount of time to adjust his schedule, but they had been slammed with more cases than he could count. The job was hard - theft, drugs, even the…   _no_ , Kolivan shook his head. He was not going to think about that one. It’s a sad day when not even Antok can make a joke about something.

 

Thinking of Antok, made him think of his entire team. He couldn’t be any more happier with the team that he had been assigned with. The three of them - Antok, Thace and Ulaz felt more like family at this point than coworkers. Which was honestly the only reason he’d even agreed to try Antok’s suggestion of using the same guy that cleaned his friend’s place.

 

The doorbell ringing pulled him out of his musings. _It’s about damn time_ , he thought as he pulled himself to his feet. He dusted the nonexistent dust off of his pants as he made his way over to the front door. He pulled it open to reveal a young man standing at his door.

 

***

 

Lance fidgeted, pulling on the strap of his bag that held the cleaning supplies. He really, really hoped that this guy was as nice as Antok said he was or Lance was dead where he stood. Already off to a bad start, the bus had been late and his apartment was all the way on the other side of town.

 

Then the door opened and Lance had the urge to turn around and run, because the guy was scowling. _Oh, sweet stars, he was so dead._ Still, he stuck a smile on his face, and was certain that he looked ten different points of terrified before he took a breath and started talking.

 

“Good morning! I would like to apologize for my lateness, but the bus was running late. My name is Lance and I’m with Arus Cleaning.” He then ducked his head in a polite nod, praying that the guy couldn’t see him shaking.

 

Kolivan nodded at Lance’s introduction of himself. He stuck his hand out for Lance to shake. “Kolivan. Nice to meet you. Now,” he gestured to the open door way as he stepped aside. “If you’ll follow me? I can give you a tour, but unfortunately, I don’t have a whole lot of time right now.” Kolivan looked down at his watch again, “I have to be at work shortly.”

 

Lance shook the man’s hand and nodded to everything he said. He felt terrible, this was only the second time he’s been given a place to clean through this company and here he was screwing it up and making the guy late. He tightened his grip on the bag and moved inside, keeping his eyes on Kolivan’s face.

 

“Again, I’m really sorry…”

 

“It’s fine.” Kolivan sighed. “I feel like I should also apologize for my short temper today. I just -- haven’t had the best of luck when it comes to these cleaning services, but you come highly recommended by Antok, so…”

 

Lance blew out a weak laugh. “I’ll have to thank him for that.” He dug into a pocket and pulled out a small little notebook. “I know you have to go, but I have to ask you a couple of things. I’m sorry.” He flipped a page then looked up. “Are you allergic to pine or anything that is used in most cleaners? Is there anywhere you don’t want me to clean? Any place off limits?”

 

Kolivan shook his head, “No, to all three of those.”

 

Lance made a couple of marks, nodding a bit as he relaxed a little. “Thank you.” He offered a hesitant smile, still a little unsure. Antok had been much easier to talk to, but then again, he’d answered the door that first time, with a toothbrush in his mouth, wearing just sweatpants; he’d also immediately made a joke about it too. “Then, I’m ready for your instructions, sir.” He held his pen ready over the paper.

 

He chuckled, “No need to call me sir.” He gestured for Lance to follow him. “Well, this is the living room, and through here is the kitchen.” Kolivan turned around the show Lance the staircase, “Up here, is my bedroom, and the office, as well as a spare room that currently isn’t in use; down here is --” Kolivan was interrupted by his phone ringing. He looked at Lance, “sorry, but I’ll just be one moment…” He walked back into the kitchen and left Lance in the living room.

 

Lance wrote in the little book where everything was, and nodded, turning away to let Kolivan take his call. It was a nice place, a little dirty sure, but that was what Lance was here for. It was also… rather sparse. Lance’s own apartment, while small, had blankets and various knick knacks, pictures on the wall. _But, maybe the guy just hadn’t lived here long_. Either way, Lance could easily get everything clean in time to catch the last bus of the day. He was sure of it. To make it easier, he started making a little list of what to do, counters, floors, laundry, maybe even the windows… Hmm…

 

Kolivan stepped back into the room. “Sorry about that, but something’s come up at work.” He pulled a spare key from his back pocket. He handed it to Lance, “Again, I’m so sorry about having to leave right away.” He grabbed his jacket from the closet, “If you could please lock up after you leave? I’m not sure when - or if - I’ll be back at all tonight. It was really nice meeting you, Lance. I hope this arrangement will work out for the both of us.” He smiled as he moved to shake Lance’s hand again.

 

“Oh, of course! Did you want me to leave the key somewhere?” He dug into his pocket, pulling out a thin ring with three keys on it. “Uh, Antok told me to just hang onto his, but, I can leave yours under the mat?” Lance smiled, feeling a bit better about the whole thing now that he didn’t get his head bitten off for being late. He was going to take an earlier bus from now on, that was a fact.

 

“You can keep it for now. Think of it as a test - I’ve had other housekeepers abuse my home and their privileges in it.” Kolivan smiled, “If Antok can trust you with his key, then hopefully I can trust you with mine as well.” His phone beeped with a message, “Ah, sorry but I do need to get going. If you need anything please don’t hesitate to call or text. I’ve written my number down and put it on the fridge and if worse comes to worse, and it’s an emergency, then you can just call Antok; he’ll be able to get any messages to me.”

 

Lance nodded, following Kolivan to the door. “Of course… Thank you for the opportunity, and… have a good day?”

 

“You too, Lance.”

 

***

 

He was exhausted; the day had been even longer and more tiring than he had expected. Kolivan was physically and mentally drained as he pulled into his driveway. He put the car in park and gathered his belongings from the passenger seat before getting out and locking the door.

 

Kolivan looked up to his house. So far everything looked good, the light on his small porch was on but the rest of the house looked quiet and dark. _So far, so good_ , he thought to himself. He steeled himself as he walked up the steps and unlocked the door. He flicked the light on, expecting chaos but… everything was perfect; everything was actually still there which was a big plus - nothing looked out of place. He heaved a sigh of relief as walked further into his home. He could almost see a sparkle gleaming off of the hardwood floors. He hung up his jacket and walked down the short hallway. A quick look into the kitchen proved it to be just as clean as the living room; too exhausted for any further inspections, Kolivan made his way up to his bedroom.

 

He loosened his tie along the way and slid it off of his neck as he fumbled for the lightswitch.

 

“Oh.”

 

His room was spotless and from the looks of it, his sheets had been changed and the bed was remade. Kolivan was speechless. He had said that no room was off-limits but no other housekeeper had been as thorough as it seemed that Lance had. He was impressed, to say the least.

 

He slowly shed the rest of his clothes and placed them in the hamper in his closet. Down to only his boxers, Kolivan unmade the bed and slipped into bed; he pulled the comforter up to breathe in the fresh scent of the detergent and sighed.

 

_I just hope that this isn’t a fluke, and Lance flakes out on me like the others…_

 

* * *

 

It’s two days later when Kolivan has scheduled Lance to return. He doesn’t want it to seem like it’s overkill having Lance come so soon but he had done such a wonderful job last time that Kolivan wanted to… test him a little bit - nothing too over the top, just something to prove that he can be trusted. It’s while he’s getting dressed that Kolivan decided to leave one of his watches on the floor by his desk in his office. Lance has a key so he doesn’t have to worry about waiting for him to arrive this time before he leaves. As he’s on the way out, he decides to slip a few bills - no more than thirty dollars - into one of the couch cushions. Satisfied with his little ‘tests’ all Kolivan has to do is wait until he gets home that evening to see if Lance had been able to pass.

 

***

 

Lance was halfway finished cleaning when he found the watch. He looked it over, then shrugged. The clasp was probably loose. Kolivan seemed a lot more put together than Lance was, so he doubted that he just dropped it there to pick it up later. He ended up putting the watch on Kolivan’s dresser, with a little note from his notebook. _‘I found this in your office. I think the clasp came loose. I know a guy who can fix it in a day if you’re interested.’_ Satisfied, he ended up stripping the bed while he was in there. Fresh sheets at the end of the day were always nice.

 

It wasn’t until he was pushing the couch out of the way, so he could get at the floor under it that he tripped on the rug and face planted directly into the cushions. He took a moment to just stay that way, cursing his dumb lanky, ungraceful self before he pushed up, catching the edge of a five peeking out.

 

He went couch fishing and ended up with three fives, a ten and five one dollar bills. Honestly, some people just never checked their pockets anymore. He admittedly snooped just a bit in the kitchen until he found an envelope and left another note, tucking the money and the note into the envelope before sealing it up. _‘I found this in the couch. I think there’s a hole in one of your pockets, if you leave it on a chair I can fix it for you.’_

 

In the end, he left almost fifteen minutes later than he had planned, and cursed his way down the street toward the bus. If he missed it, he was going to have to walk.

 

***

 

Kolivan was impressed as he pulled into his driveway - everything looked to be in its place outside. Lance had even straightened out the welcome mat he had by the door.  He smiled as he looked down at it. He was still prepared for the worst - especially after he had walked in on the mess that Throk had created - but was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was still in order.

 

He was disappointed to find that the money he had left in the couch was no longer there, until he made his way into the kitchen to see an envelope on the counter.

 

“What is this?”

 

Kolivan was impressed; Lance had placed all of the money from the couch inside the envelope and had left him a note about fixing his jacket pocket for him. He chuckled and placed the money back inside his wallet.

 

He grabbed a frozen meal from the freezer and placed it in the microwave. While his food was cooking, Kolivan decided to make a quick trip upstairs to check in his office for his watch. He was again disappointed to find it was no longer on the floor. He sighed as he shut the light off in the office and walked down the short hallway to his bedroom. He clicked the light on as he entered and smiled as he saw his watch lying on his dresser with another note.

 

Kolivan chuckled to himself, “Seems like Antok really knows how to pick them.” He placed the watch back in it’s drawer. _I don’t want to get my hopes up too high though. It has only been two days since I’ve hired Lance._ He heard the beep of the microwave from the kitchen and sighed. _Only time will tell if Lance can actually be trusted…_

 

***

 

When Lance showed up, almost a week later, he was feeling pretty good. He’d heard from Antok, who apparently did not leave as early as Kolivan did, that he’d only heard good things, so there was that. But he was starting to wonder about his little idea.

 

Lance hated being cold, it was a fact that would likely never change. Because of that, he had a ton of afghans and blankets in his apartment, far too many to ever use alone. So he had chosen one, a pretty one that was mostly black but had blue and white accents, that he had never used. He just, felt so bad that Kolivan didn’t even have the time to buy himself a blanket for quiet nights on the couch. Since he had more than enough, he planned to just slip it over the back of the couch. The colors would look nice there, and honestly, who didn’t appreciate a nice blanket?

 

***

 

All Kolivan could think of on his way home was a nice hot shower, some food, and maybe watching some television as he layed down on the couch. He had - surprisingly - been able to finish his work early for the day - he’d actually left the office at a normal time, six pm. He was looking forward to finally being able to relax.

 

When he unlocked his front door and kicked his shoes off, and threw his jacket on the back of the couch only for it to slide right off and land in a pile onto the cushions. He picked it up to put back, only to do a double take.

 

_Where did that come from?_

 

Draped over the back of the couch was a blanket; Kolivan picked it up and let the material run through his fingers. It was soft and heavy - it would definitely be warm. He looked around for another note from Lance and sighed when he didn’t find any. He’d have to thank him for the blanket and offer to reimburse him for it.

 

Kolivan made quick work of his shower and heating up his dinner. Freshly showered and with some hot food, Kolivan curled up on the couch under his new blanket to spend the remainder of his night browsing Netflix.

 

* * *

 

Two more uneventful weeks passed, Lance alternated between cleaning for Antok and Kolivan while spending his solitary day off curled under a mountain of blankets and watching cheesy movies. It was Saturday of the second week when Lance found a little problem.

 

He had been halfway through cleaning Kolivan’s fridge, something that absolutely needed done at least once a month in Lance’s humble opinion, when it hit him. Many of the things there would expire if they weren’t used soon, and being from a decently sized family, Lance was trained from an early age not to waste food. So he didn’t even think twice before bundling a few key things into his arms and dumping it on the counter.

 

He stood there, looking over the pack of chicken, milk, cheese and eggs. Reasonably, he could technically make a casserole, and leave it in the oven so it would be warm when Kolivan got back, plus, it would make a good three meals… okay, maybe just two… Kolivan was a lot bigger than Lance was. But… then again, if he looked he could probably find something to add to it…  But it wasn’t his place…

 

In the end, he cut the chicken into chunks, and soaked it in eggs and butter, before dipping it into some flour and cooking it on a pan. He used more milk, eggs and cheese to make an almost omelette mix before he caved and went hunting for potatoes. It was not a meal that most would make, but with the potatoes, chicken and cheese he could mix it all together with the omelette and Kolivan could have breakfast for dinner. It wasn’t much, but at least the food wouldn’t spoil.

 

He was late leaving again, but he made sure everything was clean and that he had left a note explaining why he’d cooked. He’d either find out with an irate phone call, or it would never be mentioned. Either way, what was done was done.

 

_‘Sorry, but I noticed that some of your food was about to expire so I figured I would treat you to a Lance original. I hope you like breakfast for dinner.’_

 

***

 

The house smelled amazing when he opened the door that night. Kolivan was used to it smelling like the lemon scented cleanser Lance used.

 

He let his nose guide him out into the kitchen where there was a note waiting for him on the table - _‘Sorry, but I noticed that some of your food was about to expire so I figured I would treat you to a Lance original. I hope you like breakfast for dinner.’_ Kolivan smiled as he pulled the plate out of the still warm oven. It smelled amazing; he honestly couldn’t remember the last time that he had a home-cooked meal. His diet mainly consisted of microwaveable dinners or cereal.

 

“I’m gonna have to think about raising his pay.” Kolivan mumbled into his plate as he dug in. He moaned around a mouthful. “Oh, wow, this is delicious…”

 

He was more than impressed with Lance’s work ethic - he had gone above and beyond the task of housekeeping. He was starting to make this house actually feel like a home with his little touches. And Kolivan couldn’t deny it - he was really starting to look forward to the little notes that Lance would occasionally leave around the house.

 

_Maybe I could offer to take Lance to dinner one night? As a thank you?_

 

He shook his head as he finished his dinner and stood to put the plate in the sink. He paused to roll his sleeves up and put the water on to warm. _It sounds too much like I’d be asking him on a date,_ Kolivan groaned. _I don’t even know if he likes guys, let alone if he’d want me coming onto him like that. Ugh._ He finished washing his dishes and placed them in the rack to dry. He grabbed a towel to dry his hands and spied the note that Lance left again.

 

“Oh!”

 

Kolivan went over to find a pen in a drawer and wrote a note to Lance, _‘Thank you so much for dinner! With how busy I’ve been with work, I hadn’t even realized that some of the food was about to expire; I would’ve had just had to throw it all. I really appreciate all the effort that you put into making this meal for me.’_

 

Happy with his note, Kolivan taped it to the fridge so Lance would see it the next time he came.

 

***

 

As was the norm when Lance arrived he wrinkled his nose at Antok. “Dude, do you never eat real food?”

 

Antok looked up from the cereal he was eating. “Uh… does cereal count?”

 

Lance rolled his eyes dropping his bag on the floor and getting out his supplies. “No. Cereal has like the nutritional value of eating skittles and cardboard together. What is wrong with you? You have this stellar kitchen and you eat that?”

 

“Seriously? You haven’t realized yet that I’m barely ever home?” Antok chuckled. “I’m not going to waste what little time I spend here cooking.”

 

Lance directed a flat look over his shoulder. “If you start the pan the same time you start your coffee then it takes three minutes to make eggs. Whatever, if you starve it’s not my fault, I warned you.”

 

“Hey, if I starve then who’s gonna pay you? Hmmm?”

 

Lance turned and pointed at Antok. “Rude - that is rude and offensive. I’m just saying I’m younger than you, I take a bus around town and I can make eggs. Even your friend has better shit in his fridge. All you have is beer and milky way bars!”

 

Antok smirked. “Have you been cooking for Kolivan? And there’s nothing wrong with beer and milky way bars!”

 

“There is plenty wrong when that is your dinner!” Lance scoffed, moving to start wiping down some shelves. “And yes, I cooked him dinner because the guy had like five things about to expire and you do not waste food. My mom would haunt me for a straight year and she’s not even dead. _Honestly_.”

 

“Hmph.” Antok crossed his arms. “I’m surprised that Kolivan had any food at all. He works longer hours than me.” He shrugged.

 

“I was kinda surprised too, especially after I found that money in his couch, dude must have had a hole somewhere or something, because, it was a decent amount. But, it was cool, I put it on the counter for him. You should tell him I sew pretty well, I fixed your shirt didn’t I?”

 

“Hmm… money in the couch?” Antok looked distracted. “Yeah, uh - I’ll have to let him know how well you sew.”

 

Lance nodded. “Also if you don’t leave now, you’ll be late.” He grinned over his shoulder. “Go --  if you’re nice, maybe I’ll cook for you one day.”

 

Antok perked up at that, “Really?!” He slurped down the rest of the milk in his bowl and threw it in the sink. “I’m definitely gonna have to hold you to that. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in ages!”

 

Lance rolled his eyes again. “Then buy some damned food!” He called as Antok raced for the door.

 

* * *

 

Antok placed the coffee cup on the edge of Kolivan’s desk. “So --” He was only slightly out of breath as he started.

 

“So?” Kolivan looked up at where Antok had perched himself on the corner of his desk. “And get off of my desk. You don’t belong up there.”

 

“I heard from a little birdie that Lance made you dinner…” He pouted, “He never makes me dinner…”

 

Kolivan tried to shoo him off his desk again to no avail. “I’m going to guess that the ‘little birdie’  was Lance? Seeing as I didn’t tell anyone about that. Oh! I did leave him a note on the fridge about repaying him about that, so hopefully he’ll get that today and let me know what I can do for him.”

 

“Repaying him? Aren’t you already paying him?” Antok cocked his head to the side.

 

Kolivan put down the paperwork that he had been working on. “Yes,” he sighed. “But so far he seems to have gone above and beyond what is required of him. He’s passed the little tests that I gave him and he’s cooked for me, and then there’s the blanket --”

 

“Woah, woah. Wait a minute - back up a second there. Tests? What kind of tests?”

 

“Well… with the luck I’ve had in the past with these cleaning services, I just wanted to make sure that he was trustworthy. So, I shoved some money in the couch cushions and put one of my watches on the floor under my desk. Simple things, really. He passed both of those with flying colors - the money had been placed in an envelope for me to find and he even offered to fix my pockets for me so it wouldn’t happen again --”

 

“Oh, yeah. Lance wanted me to let you know that he was serious about that offer.” Antok pointed to his own shirt. “He actually sews pretty well, he’s fixed quite a few of my shirts and jackets.”

 

Kolivan hummed in agreement before he continued. “Yeah, and he also offered to get my watch fixed for me so that I wouldn’t lose it while I wore it.”

 

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy. Always does his best. Although…”

 

“Although, what?”

 

Antok tapped his finger against his chin. “It’s a little peculiar that _you’re_ getting gifts while Lance has worked for me longer, and I haven’t gotten anything.” He pouted. “It’s not fair - I think he likes you more than me.”

 

“What? I’ve barely spoken to him, how could he possibly know enough of me to determine whether or not he likes me more than you?”

 

“Oh!” Antok perked up. “That’s gotta be it!”

 

“That’s gotta be what?” Kolivan sighed.

 

Antok waved his hand as he hopped off the edge of Kolivan’s desk. “No, no. Don’t worry about it - it’s nothing important. Anyway…” He looked over his shoulder, “I’ve gotta get going. You know - work and stuff.”

 

Kolivan sighed again. “Yeah, yeah.” He watched Antok round the corner to the file room and mumbled to himself, “it’s always more than questions than answers when talking to him. At least, I got a free coffee out of it.” Kolivan grabbed the still steaming mug and took a long sip of it before he started up again on the massive piles of paperwork on his desk.

 

***

 

Lance shuffled off the bus with a red face, and a plant clutched in both hands. _Lord, people suck. Just because a guy is on a bus and has a plant does not make him crazy._ The plant is not his only friend. He rolled his eyes, hard, and started down the now familiar walk to Kolivan’s home. He struggled a little, to get the key in and slip inside, making sure to lock the door behind him.

 

He carried the plant over to one of Kolivan’s windows, setting it down gently, and adjusting it so it would get plenty of light. His neighbor was always giving him plants and flowers despite Lance having exactly zero space for them, and honestly, Lance was running out of people to give them to. He’d considered giving one to Antok, but this was the same guy that couldn’t even feed himself. There was no way Lance was able to trust him with anything living.

 

He’d brought a nice leafy one to Kolivan’s. Lance had even attached a note to one of the little branches, explaining that his neighbor had given it to him and Lance just did not have the room for it. He even offered to water it when he came so Kolivan wouldn’t be bothered by it. Satisfied, he had done his best to give the plant at least a chance of survival, Lance started working, collecting sheets, and towels, even snagging the blanket off the couch to toss into the laundry. He couldn’t help but grin. He had a deep purple one that would look good on Kolivan’s bed… Maybe, he’ll bring it next time…

 

It was almost four hours later, after braving the basement and finally managing to get that into some state of organized, that he shuffled for his bag, blinking at the note currently eye level on the fridge. Was he in trouble? Maybe Kolivan was mad about the dinner? Shit, he’d probably planned on making something for himself and then Lance went and screwed it all up.

 

Lance slowly reached for the note, like it would bite him, carefully peeling it away from the fridge and opening it. _‘Thank you so much for dinner! With how busy I’ve been with work, I hadn’t even realized that some of the food was about to expire; I would’ve had just had to throw it all. I really appreciate all the effort that you put into making this meal for me.’_

 

He blinked, set the note on the counter, rubbed his eyes several times, then read the note again. The words were still the same. He’d… liked it? The note seemed like he had. But, Lance had literally just thrown everything together. He toyed with the note, looking around a little before nodding just once and pulling his pen out of his pocket.

 

He used the same note, flipping it over before writing down his reply. _‘Not a problem at all! I’m just glad to know someone is eating decently. Oh, yeah! I’m about halfway through cleaning the basement, sorry it’s taking so long. I’ll be done on Sat.’_

 

***

 

Kolivan threw his keys onto the counter as he loosened his tie. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked back into the living room - only to do a double-take. _When did I get a plant?_ He placed his beer on a coaster on one of the end tables and moved over to inspect the new plant; it was rich green with lush, leafy branches. He ran his hand through them and stopped when his fingers snagged on a note; he pulled it out to read - _‘I thought this might liven up the place! My neighbor had given this to me but I don’t have the room for it anymore - enjoy! Oh, I already watered it for the day so it should be good until I come back!’_

 

He smiled as he played with the note, Kolivan sat back down and reached for the remote when he noticed another note taped to the screen of his television. Kolivan chuckled as he grabbed the other note - _‘Not a problem at all! I’m just glad to know someone is eating decently. Oh, yeah! I’m about halfway through cleaning the basement, sorry it’s taking so long. I’ll be done on Sat.’_

 

His smile fell, “Wait? What?”

 

Kolivan still had the note in his hand as he walked down to the basement - the basement that he hadn’t really gone down into since he had moved into the house. The room had just become his ‘catch-all’ for his junk and various boxes. He stopped on the bottom step; it looked completely different than the last time he had been down there - half of the room was completely cleared. There were boxes still stacked off to one side but still - the basement looked almost immaculate.

 

He shook his head and made his way upstairs and back into the kitchen. Kolivan grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and leaned against the counter to write his own note to Lance.

 

_‘Lance - I know that I had said that no room is off-limits, and there isn’t; but I can’t expect you to clean my trainwreck of a basement. You’re doing so much more work then is necessary - not to mention the little additions! I love the blanket and the plant! You’ve been too good to me; I know you said that you don’t want to be repaid for anything extra but this is so much more!_

_\- Kolivan_

 

***

 

Lance dumped his supply bag on the counter, before groaning as he dragged another bag into the house, locking the door behind him. “It’s a blanket! Just a flipping blanket! Why is it so damned heavy… Ugh…”

 

Lance sighed. It was a blanket, but he also had cookies, which he had to fight to keep Antok from eating all of them. Then there was the real reason behind the blanket. True, it was far too big for just Lance alone, but it also served to keep his precious cargo safe. Lance grinned to himself. Kolivan had seemed thankful for the dinner, and Lance hadn’t gotten any angry texts or messages about the plant or the other blanket so he may as well keep going. Besides, it was nice… Doing his part to help look after someone… even if that someone could probably snap him in half with one hand.

 

He carried the bag into Kolivan’s room, and started his usual routine of doing laundry first, humming a song he’d heard on the bus while he worked. That grew into flipping on a radio and singing as he worked. He cleaned the kitchen while he waited for the laundry, then made the bed, making sure to spread the massive dark purple and white plaid over last, looking pleased when it covered the bed easily. Honestly, Lance wasn’t even sure where he’d gotten that blanket.

 

He then froze on his way to the basement. There on the door was a note. Confused, Lance pulled it down and grinned a bit at the words there. Honestly, this guy had been mildly terrifying the one and only time Lance had met him, but his notes were… so sweet? Who gave this guy permission to be that kind? Lance grinned, shoving the note into his pocket and rolling up his sleeves. He was going to finish that basement, then set up his special surprise. If Kolivan thought he had been nice before, just wait until he got home to the lamp Lance had found.

 

It wasn’t anything fancy, a simple metal design, with a dark gray lamp shade but when Lance had tested it in his own apartment, it had a nice gentle light that really made things look warm and inviting. Lance fully intended to set it up on one of the little tables, and leave it on when he left. Coming home to a dark place wasn’t good for you in the long run.

 

When he was finished, he set up notes. One on the cookies, short and to the point, about not letting Antok have any more. One on the lamp, detailing about how it was important to come home to a warm light, instead of a dark home. One on the basement door, that was a simple winking face, and one on the blanket, that explained it was far too big for someone as scrawny as Lance… Satisfied, he flicked the lamp on, turned everything else off, and locked the door on his way out.

 

***

 

It was dark when Kolivan got home that night, but what else was new? He had become accustomed to coming home to a dark and empty house, so it was odd for him to unlock the door to see a warm yellow glow coming from a lamp on one of the end tables. He walked over to grab the note taped to the lampshade and smiled at Lance’s handwriting.

 

He still had the note in his hand when he walked into the kitchen and spied the cookies on the counter; there was another note next to the plate. He chuckled, there was no way that Antok was going to get any of these cookies.

 

Kolivan grabbed a beer and the plate of cookies and headed into the livingroom to enjoy his ‘dinner.’ He settled into the cushions with something playing on Netflix and grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and… the last thing he remembered before dozing off was finishing the last cookie.

 

He jerked awake about an hour later when the credits had begun to roll on his movie. He grabbed the remote to turn the television off and turned to re-fold the blanket. With that done, Kolivan grabbed the empty plate and beer bottle and placed them both in the sink - to worry about them in the morning. He went back into the living room to turn the lamp off and began his slow ascent up the stairs. He stripped out of his clothes in a daze - not really paying attention to his surroundings - until he went to sit on the edge of his bed and heard the crinkle of paper as he sat on another of Lance’s notes. He reached under himself to remove it and finally looked at the new blanket that he was sitting on.

 

Kolivan had a small smile on his face as he sighed; he leaned over to place all three of his new notes onto the nightstand next to his bed. He would seriously have to start thinking of something to do nice for Lance to repay him for all his kindness. But, for now, Kolivan grabbed his new blanket and curled himself underneath it. He fell asleep quickly to the smell of the laundry detergent that Lance used.

 

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

 

Kolivan rolled over to slap his hand against the alarm; he groaned as he looked at the time on the clock. He had completely forgot to turn it off the night before, and now, on his only day off, he was already awake at 7 am.

 

He figured that since he was already awake for the day that he might as well just get started on his self-imposed chores. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Kolivan was ready to get started. He made his way downstairs towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of much needed coffee. On his way through the living room, he ran his fingers over the leaves of his plant.

 

The coffeemaker was all set up and ready to go, so all Kolivan had to do was turn it on to brew. With that done, he turned to grab a mug from the cabinet over the sink.

 

 _Hmm?_ He must’ve been really exhausted last night if he hadn’t noticed the sticky note stuck to the basement door. The only thing written on it was a winking face. The coffeemaker dinged to signal that it was finished brewing but Kolivan paid it no mind as he opened the door and started down the steps to the basement. He clicked the light on at the bottom of the stairs and could only stare. The basement hadn’t even been that clean when he had moved in - it was spotless. No cobwebs, no extra boxes, and no dust. It actually looked like an extra living space instead of just a dingy basement. He’d really need to figure out to repay Lance for this; he had never expected Lance to tackle this room, and in such a short amount of time!

 

With his mind made up, Kolivan clicked off the light and went back upstairs. He grabbed the mug that he had pulled out and traded it for a travel mug. After he had poured himself a generous amount of coffee, Kolivan grabbed his keys.

 

***

 

Lance shifted, uncomfortable in such a huge chain market. He felt very out of place with all the fairly well dressed people and him simply in his work clothes. Unfortunately, Antok had apparently decided that he did want Lance to cook for him, and had left money and a very long list of food requests. Most were absolutely absurd and likely put there just to make him laugh, because there was no chance of him making barbecue rib in the middle of November.

 

He had a little basket, with rice and several little cans in it, planning to make something simple, that would be able to sit for a while. While, technically Antok’s place wasn’t as far out as Kolivan’s, it was still far enough out that Lance was not missing the bus.

 

Lance was muttering under his breath about spices and flavors, before bemoaning about Antok’s food choices as he brushed past someone. Given that he’s been avoiding almost everyone and their obvious disapproval, Lance just kept his head down and spoke a soft “Excuse me…”

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance froze, eyes landing on a shiny pair of shoes, before trailing up pressed slacks, a button up shirt, covering very broad shoulders and finally onto the face of his other boss. “Fuck…” Slipped out before he clapped a hand over his mouth.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “It’s fine.” He gestured to Lance’s basket, “making anything special with all of that?”

 

“Oh…” He shifted, then rolled his eyes a little. “Antok won’t quit whining because I cooked for you. So, I get there today, and he’s dancing around like a puppy all excited. He shoves two twenties at me and this list of food he wants to eat. It’s November, and he actually wrote down three different types of barbecue…”

 

He shook his head. “Antok’s just joking, I’m sure.” Kolivan waved his hand, “you could just get him some instant noodles and he’d appreciate that. That man just doesn’t like to cook for himself.”

 

Lance sighed. “Believe me, I know. Every time I get there, it’s cereal. The most his fridge has ever had in it was beer, a bag of peanuts, a jar of honey and that damned endless bag of milky ways… But then he wonders why I don’t bring him plants.. It’s because he’d kill them..” Lance shook his head. Then he blinked and backpedaled. ‘I… I mean… It’s none of my business, I just… uh…”

 

Kolivan chuckled at the look on Lance’s face. “It’s all good, trust me - I’ve worked with Antok long enough to know exactly how he is. Oh! Before I forget, I wanted to thank you for all that you’ve done for me. The blankets are beautiful; dinner was delicious; the plant and the lamp really make it seem homey and the basement! I can’t believe how clean you were able to get it; it wasn’t even that clean when I moved in!”

 

Lance blinked, as his face slowly started to gain a red tint. “O-oh… I uh… I was a little worried… I was overstepping, but… My neighbor gives me plants all the time… and… I mean, if I water it… Then you shouldn’t have to do anything… and I have all these extra blankets… Wait, you like them?”

 

“Of course I like them. I can’t tell you how many years that I’ve lived in that house and it’s only just now, that it’s started to feel like home. And that’s all thanks to you. I’ve had my fair share of housekeepers over the years who have definitely overstepped their boundaries so if you bringing in plants is the ‘worst’ --” He chuckled. “--the worst that you’re going to do then please - feel free to overstep your boundaries. Just -- I don’t want you to think that you _have_ to do all those things.”

 

Lance sagged just a little, gripping the basket a bit tighter. “Well, at least I know you aren’t angry about it. Hang on… Are you the guy Antok mentioned? He said he knew someone that came home to an actual party?” Lance shook his head. “That’s so wrong… Do that shit in your own place.  The worst I’ve done is dig for your potatoes and use your radio… Ah shit.” Lance slapped his hand back over his mouth again.

 

“How many times am I going to have to tell you it’s fine?” Kolivan chuckled. “As long as you don’t have any wild parties when I’m not home, then I think you’ll be good. Besides, you’ve proven to me that you’re a trustworthy person. You’ve lasted much longer than any of my other housekeepers.”

 

“Sorry… I just… I’m not sure how to talk to you. You said, no to sir, which is what people usually want.. And unlike Antok, you did not open your door my first day with a toothbrush in your mouth wearing only sweats and then immediately make a sex joke about it” Lance shrugged. “But your notes were nice.”

 

“You can just call me Kolivan, please; Sir makes me feel like an old man. And as for Antok, he is… not the most tactful person. He means well, but…” Kolivan trailed off.  “Your notes were just as nice a surprise to find around the house.” He gestured to Lance’s basket that had gotten more filled up as they had both walked around the store together. “Did you take the bus again today?”

 

“The notes were something we did at home. You know, mom would leave them to remind us of things and it just.. Kind of stuck.” Lance grinned. “But, yeah, I did take the bus, I just walked here though.” He shook his head, and caught a little bottle of spice, studied the basket again and shrugged, tossing it in. “I think I’m done…” He grinned up at Kolivan.

 

“I think I’m done here too. C’mon, we’ll go get checked out and then I’ll give you a ride back.” He put his hand in the middle of Lance’s back as he steered them both towards the checkout lines.

 

It wasn’t a long trip back to Antok’s especially with a car, but Lance made a point to tell Kolivan some of the silly stories he had saved up from his own experiences with clients. Like, at his last company, how he had arrived and found a mashed potato and gravy Eiffel Tower standing on the counter. He had the pictures to prove it too.

 

He got out with a smile and an expressive hand wave. “Thanks so much for the ride. I’ll have to do something to thank you for it.” He took a minute to gather up the bags.

 

Kolivan smiled as he watched Lance gather up all of his bags, “none of that, you’ve already done so much for me! Just -- have a good day, okay?”

 

Lance caught the last bag and straightened. “Of course! It’s always a good day, if you make it that way. Bye Kolivan, I’ll surprise you tomorrow!” He nudged the door shut with his hip and darted up to Antok’s door.

 

Kolivan watched him run up to Antok’s door; he smiled when Lance turned around to wave.

 

***

 

Lance blew through Kolivan’s door, wincing at the cold chill the wind had taken. He stood there once he was inside and shivered for several minutes before slowly shedding out of a fairly ratty coat, a jacket, a hoodie, a pair of gloves and a beanie hat. Lance was honestly not looking forward to it getting colder, especially since he was getting a third house on his route, and once a week he would have to walk to it, since it was not on any bus routes. But still, that was for Future Lance. Present Lance needed to thaw his damned fingers and get to work.

 

The cleaning was routine by this point, even taking extra time to start a meal, because Lance had promised to surprise Kolivan and something warm after a cold day, sounded heavenly to Lance. So Lance had brought everything he would need to make his own personal favorite cold weather food. Lasagna.

 

He made sure to flick the lamp on, and even dithered a bit at the door, hesitant to leave the warm house and walk to the bus stop. He even checked the pan in the oven an additional time before slipping back into his layers of clothes, and darting out the door, staying just long enough to insure the door was firmly locked before he ran down the street.

 

***

 

Kolivan hadn’t realized how much he appreciated coming home to a lighted house; not to mention the delicious smell that greeted him as he opened his front door. He shed his coat as he entered and followed his nose to the kitchen.

 

He walked over to the stove, and after finding some oven mitts and a towel to put the hot dish on, he grabbed the casserole dish out of the oven. The smells were amazing - Kolivan could smell the spices that Lance had used; he pulled the tinfoil off of the top and could see the cheese that had bubbled and browned at the edges. He grabbed a plate and sat down at the table to enjoy his dinner.

 

Kolivan looked across the table to the empty chair opposite him and sighed. Lance had said that he would surprise him today and he had - this dinner was amazing! It just -- it would be better if he had someone to share it with. It was that time of year when it had started to get colder and darker earlier. He felt bad that he was sitting here enjoying his meal while Lance was probably still on his way home.

 

It took him aback for a second - these feelings that he definitely did not anticipate. Lance had weaved his way into his life in such small, simple ways but they left a deep impact. Kolivan had been - not happy, exactly - but content in his life, and now, here he was wishing that Lance was here to enjoy this dinner with him.

 

Kolivan placed his fork across the now empty plate, and sighed. He really needed to thank Lance - truly thank him for all that he had done for him these past few weeks. The only problem was that he had no idea how to go about thanking Lance - he was too chickenshit to actually ask him out to dinner; he put his head in his hands.

 

His head shot up after a few minutes. The notes; that what he would do - he’d write Lance a note. That way he’d be able to ask him without stuttering over his words -- besides, Lance had said that he had liked his notes. Mind made up, Kolivan put his plate in the dishwasher and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and sat back down at the table.

 

_If you won’t accept any repayment - how about at least letting me take you out to dinner? I wouldn’t want to subject you to my abysmal attempts at cooking and I don’t feel right without being able to show my gratitude in some way - you’ve made my house seem so much more lively and like an actual home (and not to mention clean!) So please? At least think about it - here’s my number again 215-833-6148. Give me a call or shoot me a text if you want to. No pressure._

 

With that done, Kolivan taped the note to the front of the fridge, and hoped that Lance might actually say yes…

 

* * *

 

Like the previous day at Kolivan’s, Lance literally blew through the door into Antok’s, cheeks red and shivering like no tomorrow. “I… h-hate… W-winter.”

 

Antok looked up from his bowl of cereal. “Did you miss your bus or something? You’re a little later than you usually are - I was getting a little worried about you.”

 

Lance shook his head. “There was a lady with a lot of bags that got off with me. It’s too cold out there so I carried her stuff. Sorry.” He shivered, then started peeling off his layers. “Man… tomorrow is going to suck.”

 

“You were close enough, you know you could’ve called me - I wouldn’t have minded picking you up. And tomorrow? Why’s it going to suck?”

 

Lance sighed as he finally started to warm up a little. “Dude, the bus stop is close, my apartment is all the way across town. Fortunately, you and Kolivan are close to a stop.” He put his things in a chair, before tsking at the cereal. “I have a new house. It’s all the way out there, man. A good hour walk from a stop. It’s only once a week though, but, I’ll be really late getting to Kolivan’s.”

 

He hummed, “I don’t think Kolivan’s gonna mind about you being a little late - he trusts you so I don’t think it’ll be too big of a deal. Who’s this person though - you know anything about them yet? Or did you just get hired through the agency?”

 

Lance shrugged. “Same way I got hired for you. I have a last name and the address. But, even though I have you and Kolivan alternating days, they wanted me to handle this guy because he’s just once a week. Um…” He dug into his pocket and pulled out the notebook. “A Mr. Galra?”

 

“Hmmm, never heard of him. It sucks that they couldn’t grab anyone else for him - especially with him being that far out.”

 

Lance laughed, flexing his fingers. “Well, if you haven’t heard of him then I should be okay. I’ll just… Wear another coat or something… I just feel kinda bad that I won’t be able to get everything done tomorrow.”

 

Antok looked over at him, “Let me know if you need a day off or something. I don’t think Kolivan would mind giving you a day off either.”

 

Lance grinned. “Thanks, Antok, but I still have Sundays. Gotta have my movie time. But.. dude, you are gonna be really late, are you going to get in trouble?” He frowned, not liking the idea.

 

“Aw, crap.” Antok looked down at his watch; he slurped down the rest of the milk and threw the bowl into the sink. “Ugh, Thace is gonna be pissed if I’m late again.”

 

Lance tossed Antok his coat. “Go, go! Get outta here, I’ll take care of your mess!”

 

“Thanks, man!”

 

* * *

 

Lance was freezing by the time he made it to the new house, and he had to stand there in the cold for another good ten minutes before someone finally answered the door. The man was huge, and what was it lately with all of Lance’s clients being giants? He wasn’t short by any means but…  Damn.

 

This guy, was honestly terrifying. He growled every word and snapped if Lance tried to ask him any questions. He seemed to expect Lance to have everything spotless, which okay that was fair, but Lance didn’t have the time to get everything done and still make it to Kolivan’s before the bus left… He followed the creepy man around, his unease growing the longer he was there, and already planning for a long cold walk home.

 

When the man finally left, with a sharp and rude reminder to leave the key in the mailbox, Lance almost breathed a sigh of relief. He really couldn’t afford to get fired, he had plenty saved, but his ultimate goal was a car, and he was never going to make enough for it with just his pay from Antok and Kolivan. So he took a shaky breath and started working.

 

The more Lance cleaned the more freaked out he got. He kept finding things that were honestly making him consider refusing to ever clean here again, no matter how much he wanted a car.

 

He’d found a drawer full of knives, which would have been normal if it wasn’t in the bathroom, and a drawer in an office that was full of various powders. The final straw though, was when he was making the bed, and he found several lists under the mattress, all full of names. Most Lance didn’t recognize, but a couple were fairly well known city officials. The two guns he found as he tucked the sheet back in clinched it. He took a picture of the papers before putting them back, and one of the guns before he raced around putting a paltry effort into the rest of the cleaning. He then grabbed his coats and bag, and raced out the door, tossing the key in the mailbox, swearing he was never going back.

 

***

 

When Lance finally got to Kolivan’s he was breathing hard, freezing and halfway convinced that he was being watched. He didn’t actually relax, until he was inside with the door locked. He slid down the door, and just… Took a minute. He took several deep breaths, and considered calling Kolivan or Antok, but in the end, called his actual bosses. He explained to them that he didn’t exactly feel safe at the new house and almost begged them to remove it from his schedule. They agreed, but they weren’t very happy about it.

 

Lance then dashed around Kolivan’s house, trying to get as much done as possible before it would be too late and cold for him to even manage to get home. It was already the time that he was usually leaving but he was determined to at least leave Kolivan’s place cleaner than he had found it. His mind kept racing to the pictures on his phone, and he was so distracted that he never noticed the note left for him. He only got more worked up the longer he was there, and ended up completely forgetting to water the plant, or even light the lamp when he closed the door behind him.

 

Almost immediately that feeling of being watched was back, and Lance turned, locking the door carefully, before pulling out his phone and calling his friend Hunk. Hunk would be more than willing to stay on the phone with him while he walked, he’d done it many times before after all.

 

***

 

Kolivan unlocked his door - he could see his breath fogging up the glass of the door. He had gotten home much later that day than usual, so it was already pitch black out.

 

He stopped in the entryway as the door swung open. It was dark - _why was it dark?_ The lamp that Lance had given him wasn’t lit and when he looked around, he noticed that his plant had also slightly wilted.

 

It was weird.

 

The house was clean - definitely more than clean in his opinion, but… it wasn’t up to the standards that Lance usually cleaned to.  

 

He walked further into the house in hopes of finding any post-it notes but was disappointed in the lack of them. _Well_ , he thought as he looked at the post-it note stuck to the fridge, _there wasn’t a complete lack of notes._

 

He sighed as he held the note in his hands - _I guess I know how Lance feels about that idea._ Kolivan crumpled the note and left it sitting on the kitchen counter. He debated on sending Lance a quick text but, in the end, decided against it due to the time.

 

Kolivan walked over to the fridge and looked inside for a quick dinner but changed his mind. He grabbed himself a cup of water and went to bed - he had to be back in work in a little less than twelve hours…

 

***

 

Kolivan was already sitting at his desk when Antok walked in. He had his head down and was staring at his phone; he looked up once he got closer to Kolivan’s desk.

 

“Hey! Have you heard from Lance? He was supposed to come by today - he’s usually there before I leave but he hasn’t shown up yet. I texted him a few times but haven’t heard anything back from him yet…”

 

Kolivan cocked his head, worried. “No… I haven’t heard from him. And come to think of it… I don’t think he was at my place all that long yesterday. Not to sound like an asshole, but it wasn’t as clean as it usually was…”

 

Antok scratched his head. “He did say that he was supposed to start cleaning another guys house -- I wonder if he just got caught up there.”

 

“…Maybe. It just doesn’t seem like --” He was interrupted as the door swung open. “Lance?” Kolivan stood up and walked over to him, with Antok close behind. “Hey, we were just talking about you - is everything alright?”

 

Lance twisted his hands together, and was looking all around the room. “Um… the guy up front… The really pale guy said I could… Just come back… S-sorry to interrupt… but…” He bit his lip and shifted from foot to foot. “I think I’m in trouble…”

 

“Ulaz? Yeah.” Kolivan led Lance over to his desk and sat him down in the chair next to it. “You’re not interrupting at all.” He nodded to Antok who pulled another chair over. “Trouble, how? Just tell us what happened.”

 

Lance again shifted, eyes darting from Kolivan to Antok and back. “Well… um…” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped it a couple of times, before setting it on the desk and pulling his hand away like it would bite him. “I uh… found these at the new house I started at yesterday.”

 

The screen was illuminated and showing the picture of the two guns he’d found under the mattress, Lance then swiped the phone to show the papers.

 

“I didn’t touch them, but… I had this feeling all night that someone was watching me…”

 

Kolivan and Antok shared a look. “You did really good by taking this picture, Lance.” Kolivan reached across the desk and motioned for Lance’s phone. “Would you mind if we looked through this? We just need to look over it for a few minutes and then we’ll give it back, okay?”

 

He shrugged. “I mean…  Okay… I have to go to work anyway… I know I’m late Antok, but you said it was okay, right?” He rubbed on his upper arm, before pushing his phone a little closer to Kolivan.

 

Antok reached for the phone and stood. “Hmm… just to be on the safe side, I think you should stay here for today. My house will be fine for another day. I’ll even call your boss for you to let him know where you are.”

 

Kolivan nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry but it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially since you said it felt like you were being watched.”

 

Lance sighed. “It could have been because I was walking around Wal-Mart all night too freaked out to go home… but fine. I mean, I’ll make sure I don’t fall behind like I did last night, I just…  May end up working late I guess.”

 

“Hey.” Kolivan walked around the desk and kneeled next to Lance’s chair. “You have both of our numbers. We would’ve answered if you had called or texted us.” He waved his hand, “that doesn’t matter now though - you’re here and you’re safe. We’re not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”

 

Lance blinked, and stared at Kolivan then over at Antok. “I was… Actually hoping you’d both laugh and tell me it was nothing… I mean, it wasn’t bad when I was at your house working, and I called a friend while I was walking home… but he was the one that suggested I just, find a place to hang out last night.”

 

Antok nodded. “And your friend was right. I’m glad you did that.” He held up Lance’s phone. “Like Kolivan said though, you never can be too cautious with things like these. I’m gonna go give this to Thace to look over real quick,” he nodded to Kolivan. “Be right back.”

 

Kolivan straightened up as Antok walked away and turned towards Lance, “In the meantime, How about a cup of coffee? Or tea, if you’d prefer?”

 

Lance smiled a little weakly. “As long as it’s hot, I’d drink pure water at this point. Sorry, again for last night… I know I didn’t do a very good job.”

 

“That doesn’t matter, right now. I’m -- we’re -- both just glad that you’re okay. C’mon, we’ve got a coffee pot in the breakroom.”

 

“I… guess… I mean, I can just wait in the waiting room? Then, I won’t bother anyone.” Lance stood, pulling his outermost coat a bit closer. “Besides, it’s warm in here.”

 

Antok walked into the break room just as Kolivan had finished pouring Lance’s coffee. “It looks like we’re gonna need to keep your phone for a bit longer. Oh, and I called your boss - I got that all squared away for you so you don’t have to worry about that.” He looked between Kolivan and Lance. “Do you have anywhere that you could go to hang out for awhile? At least until we finish with your phon--”

 

Kolivan cut him off. “If it’s alright with you, Lance - you’re more than welcome to come back to my house. You can get cleaned up and something to eat. That way we won’t have to worry about your whereabouts.”

 

Antok scratched his chin, “you know? That’s actually not half bad.” He looked over to Kolivan. “You’ve got a shitload of PTO saved up anyway so, I don’t think Thace would mind you taking the rest of the day off.”

 

He nodded, and turned towards Lance. “It’s completely up to you though. We want you to feel safe during all of this.”

 

Lance’s eyes darted from one to the other as they both talked. Honestly, he really had been hoping they would just tell him he was being silly and send him on his way. He took a sip of the coffee, enjoying the warmth before he answered. “I could just…” He trailed off at the glare Antok had before swallowing. “Agree to whatever you said… yeah, okay, but” He raised one finger then gestured to himself. “What will be I be wearing ‘Oh Great Plan Maker?’”

 

He shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of clothes at home. I can always just loan you something while I throw your stuff in the wash. So…” Kolivan looked over to Lance. “Let’s get going then, if you’re sure?” He walked with Lance and Antok back to his desk to grab his keys.

 

“Kolivan - I’ll call as soon as we’re done with Lance’s phone, okay?”

 

He nodded. “Sounds good.” Kolivan turned to Lance after he grabbed his keys and jacket, “you ready to go? I’m sure you’re ready to get a hot shower - you’ve gotta be freezing.”

 

Lance nodded. “Yeah… I uh… kinda hate the cold, and… Thanks… I’ll make you both a proper dinner as a thanks…”

 

Kolivan waved his hand. “That’s not necessary; no need to thank us for this - we’re just doing our job.”

 

Lance shrugged, letting it go for now. But, no one was going to be able to convince him that every cop just let someone use their shower after they freaked themselves out.

 

Antok walked them out to the parking lot and leaned through the passenger side window as Kolivan started the car. “I’ll keep you in the loop, Kolivan. Drive safe.”

 

“Yeah, I will - and thanks.” He rolled up the window as he pulled out of his parking spot.

 

***

 

The ride to Kolivan’s was short and before Lance knew it, they were already pulling into the driveway. Kolivan put the car in park and waited for Lance to unbuckle his seatbelt.

 

It was still mid-morning by the time they walked through the door. Kolivan turned towards Lance, suddenly awkward. “Okay, so - uh, you obviously already know where everything is. Feel free to use whatever you want, and let me know if you need anything.”

 

Lance shrugged out of his coat, then worked the jacket off his shoulders. “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t leave a mess. That’d be pretty silly huh?” He slipped the hoodie off next, shifting a bit as he tucked the gloves and hat into the coat pockets. “Man…” He looked around the room. “I did a really bad job last night.”

 

He set everything down fairly neatly in a chair before turning back to Kolivan. “I was honestly, pretty anxious when I got here, not to mention cold. But, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me.”

 

He moved around, absently picking up a bit of paper here, and a crumpled ball off the counter, straightening the place a bit as he rambled. The papers all ended up tucked into his pockets. “Oh, wow… I didn’t even water the plant…”

 

Kolivan heard him fret around, not paying attention as he hung his coat up in the closet. “Seriously. Don’t worry about it. You had a lot on your mind last night, and besides - I didn’t invite you over to clean, you’re a guest now.” He walked over into the kitchen. “I’m gonna get a pot of coffee going since you never got a cup at the station. The showers upstairs if you want to go warm up a bit.”

 

Lance sighed at the thought. “Honestly? That sounds amazing. I feel like I’ve been cold since I started walking to that guy’s house yesterday. He.. kinda gave me bad vibes from the start, you know?” Lance headed toward the stairs, still talking as he went. “Even his name was creepy. Who even names their kid Zarkon…?” Lance mumbled a bit more to himself as he went up to the bathroom.

 

“Wait - what? What did you say his name was?”

 

Lance paused, half way up the stairs. He turned and came back down, brow furrowed. “He said his name was Zarkon. I remember because it sounded like a bad guy from one of my nephew’s cartoons.”

 

Kolivan hesitated; he didn’t want to freak Lance out anymore but he also didn’t want to lie to him. The lie won out though, “You know what? My mistake, I thought you said something else. Why don’t you go get that shower now?” He waved Lance back up the stairs; once Kolivan heard the bathroom door click shut, he pulled his phone out and shot a quick text to Antok about what Lance had just told him. He sighed as he waited for the message to go through. With that done - there really wasn’t anything more for Kolivan to do until he heard from Antok, so he turned and went back into the kitchen to start that pot of coffee that he had promised Lance.

 

Lance probably spent longer in the shower than he should have but the water was warm and the pressure felt amazing on his shoulders. He’d completely forgotten to ask for clothes, so he slipped back into the ones he had been wearing. He’d done his best to dry his hair with one of the towels and tossed it over his shoulder, before shoving his hands into his pockets.

 

He paused, just inside the bathroom and worked the papers out. One was a receipt, another was several bits of paper wadded together, probably from his own notebooks, but the last one, caught his attention. It was a crumpled note. ‘ _If you won’t accept any repayment - how about at least letting me take you out to dinner? I wouldn’t want to subject you to my abysmal attempts at cooking and I don’t feel right without being able to show my gratitude in some way - you’ve made my house seem so much more lively and like an actual home (and not to mention clean!) So please? At least think about it - here’s my number again 215-833-6148. Give me a call or shoot me a text if you want to. No pressure.’_

 

 _Holy shit._ Lance probably reread the note a good three times, before folding it up and tucking it into his hand. As much as he’d love to take Kolivan up on that offer, now was probably a pretty crappy time to mention it. He’d mention it before he was allowed to go home. See if, it was an actual offer, or something Kolivan had considered then dismissed. He should probably mention the other things he’d seen in that house too. With that in mind, he slipped his socks back on but carried his shoes with him as he came back down the stairs.

 

By the time Kolivan heard the bathroom door open, He had the table set. The coffee had finished brewing and was sitting on the hot plate to keep it warm; he had been able to scrounge up some of the leftovers from Lance’s lasagna. He turned as he heard the floor creak. “Sorry, but I didn’t want to subject you to my cooking. I found some leftover lasagna though!” He chuckled. “I hope you’re hungry.”

 

Lance smiled, the note held tightly in his hand as he moved to place his shoes under the chair, that had his other clothes and slipped the note into his left shoe. “Actually yeah… I ate before I left yesterday and after that I was just too worried to stop for a minute to grab something. I uh…  Hope you liked it? I’m surprised you had some left though… Antok didn’t leave anything when I cooked for him…” He made his way over, and slipped into one of the chairs.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “The only reason I have any left is because I had to restrain myself from eating it all at once - it was that delicious.” He split the remaining leftovers onto two plates - giving Lance the slightly larger portion - and sat down across the table. “Hope it’s not too hot for you…”

 

Lance shook his head and dug in, not even pausing between the first couple of bites. “I really do feel like I’ve been cold for days. Thanks for sharing it with me, Kolivan, and for the shower because.. I’m half ready to propose to it.”

 

Kolivan laughed. “Propose to it, eh? I’m just glad that you’ve warmed up a little.” He was interrupted by his phone going off; he looked down at the caller id and then back at Lance, “If you’ll excuse me? I really need to take this.” He pushed himself away from the table as he answered the call.”

 

Lance nodded, attention returning easily to his food. Joking aside, Lance wouldn’t mind a place like this of his own. Honestly, despite what Hunk may say about Lance’s more… Dramatic tendencies. All he had ever really wanted was exactly what his parents had. Something filled with love and affection. A couple of perks but nothing overly much. Sure, Lance himself liked some of the finer things, who didn’t, but it was the feeling in his childhood home he wanted. That was part of the reason he had started cleaning houses. To help other people have that same warm feeling he had while sitting here eating quietly waiting for… His fork clattered to the table, and Lance stared at it with wide eyes. Oh shit… Was he really…? Oh… fuck…

 

Kolivan came back into the room with a grim expression. He sighed as he sat down. “That was Antok. Apparently… this is a bit more serious than we all expected.” He looked at the shocked expression on Lance’s face. “I’m sorry but, as a precaution - we’d like for you to stay with either Antok or myself for the night. Things just aren’t adding up right now, and again - we’d rather be safe than sorry. Wherever you do decide to stay for the night though - Antok’s also going to send a patrol car to sit outside just for the extra peace of mind.” Kolivan sighed. “I’m sorry, Lance - this has to be stressful for you but, please -- I want you to know that neither of us are going to let anything happen to you.”

 

Lance blinked, several times, mind trying to quickly change tack from his earlier revelation to the fact that he, an honest to god _maid_ , was in enough danger to warrant a patrol car and a night in a detective’s house. It honestly took his several minutes to stop gaping at Kolivan like a damned fish and focus. “Um… Well… I…?”

 

Damnit Lance, now was not the time to go stupid. He cleared his throat and immediately looked down at his plate. “I… don’t know. I mean… I…” He looked up and back down, one hand coming up to rub against his arm. He ended up shrugging helplessly.

 

“I know that this is a lot to throw at you, especially all at once, but how about this? Since you’re already here, why don’t I text Antok and tell him that you can stay with me? I’ve got the extra room upstairs and I’m sure I can scrounge up something for dinner later on…”

 

Lance nodded, almost dumbly before he finally latched onto something he could do. “No.. no.. That’s… I mean… Yeah… staying here is fine… But… just, let me cook for you okay? As a thanks for letting me stay?”

 

“If that would make you feel better, then of course. Just know that it’s not necessary -- you could sit on the couch and watch TV all day for all that I care. You need some time to process all this too; I don’t need you running yourself ragged.”

 

Lance nodded, eyes clenching shut for a minute. “I know… But, it’d probably be good for me to do something instead of just.. dwelling, you know?” He shook his head, pasting a smile on his face like he had the first time they’d met. “Besides, I know for a fact that you have a nice blanket on your couch, I may just.. Bury myself in it until it’s time to make something. You won’t even know I’m here, promise. I’ll even let you drop me off at Antok’s tomorrow so I can make up for missing today.”

 

“I know, but still -- you can take this time and think of it as a vacation. Just relax for awhile, and you can stay here for as long as you need too -- honestly, it would be nice to have some company around here for once, but I understand that you’d want to go to Antok’s tomorrow.”

 

Lance considered, before looking up at Kolivan again. “Actually… would it be alright, if we went on a little errand? I’d, honestly like to go home, maybe get a couple of things? Like… clean clothes? Maybe a movie… If you’d be… interested?”

 

“Of course!” Kolivan stood to gather their empty plates. “Would you like to go now? We’ve got a few hours until the patrol car is supposed to show up.”

 

Lance chuckled. “Man… Hunk is gonna flip when I tell him about this later… He’ll probably feel so bad about not being here.” He stood moving toward his jackets and shoes, absently tucking the note into a pocket. “I still can’t believe I warrant an actual patrol car.”

 

Kolivan couldn’t help but smile as Lance rattled on about the patrol car - it was nice to see him not look as stressed as he had been. He placed the plates in the dishwasher and grabbed his keys. “C’mon then, let’s go grab some of your stuff.”

 

Lance shrugged into the last of his various coats before shoving the beanie on his head. “My apartment is pretty far, I’m down on Water Street in that old warehouse that they turned into apartments a couple years ago. You know where that is, right?”

 

Kolivan frowned; he knew exactly where that was. He had responded to quite a few calls there back when he had just started out on the force as a police officer. All he could hope for was that Lance at least had good enough neighbors. He smiled before Lance could notice his frown. “Yeah, I know exactly where that is.”

 

Lance grinned. “Great. That’ll make it a lot easier then. I think I’m ready… ”

 

“Yeah, c’mon. Let me just lock up behind us and then we’ll be good to go.” Kolivan grabbed his jacket and walked with Lance down to his car, stopping to turn around and lock the front door. Once settled in the car, he turned the heat up as high as it could go to chase the lingering chill out of the air.

 

It was a rather long drive, and Lance tried hard to not babble like he usually did. Instead, he fiddled with his fingers, idly wishing he had his phone back, but not really wanting to ask exactly why they needed to keep it for so long. He was almost able to forget the nagging feeling of being watched that had picked up as soon as they were out of the house. He did, however mention it to Kolivan when the finally got to his block. “You know… I still have that funny feeling…”

 

“We’ll make this quick then. Okay? I don’t want to take any chances -- we’ll just grab your stuff and go.”

 

Lance led the way in, side stepping a creaky spot in the floor with practiced ease, and even calling out to a couple of faces that peeked out before their doors shut hastily. “Don’t mind them, it’s not their fault they don’t realize how nice you are. I’m down three more.” Lance shoved his hands into his pockets, and slipped out his keys, before waving Kolivan in first.

 

The apartment wasn’t anything fancy, and it certainly wasn’t spacious, but Lance had little bits of himself all over it. He had at least three blankets over the back of the couch, and one tossed over a chair. There was a bookcase, with movies stacked between little figures. There were pictures, almost all of them some kind of scenery, and none of the frames matched but the space was warm, and inviting.

 

“I won’t take long, I promise. Sit anywhere you’d like.”

 

Kolivan nodded as he sat down on the couch. “Sounds good. I’ll wait here until you’re finished.” He pulled out his phone to text Antok while Lance walked out of the room.

 

Lance darted into his little room, moving around and collecting some extra clothes, before snatching his favorite blanket off his bed, it was a little worn, but it was his favorite blue-gray color and it was also hands down the warmest thing in the apartment. He stuffed everything into a duffle bag, also grabbing a couple of books before he ducked into his teeny bathroom. Honestly, he was a little worried he was taking too long and that Kolivan was getting bored in his cluttered place.

 

Kolivan let his eyes wander as he sat on the couch waiting for Lance. There were little touches all throughout that made the room into Lance’s home - between the knick knacks and picture frames, his apartment had a cozy feel to it. He was getting ready to reach for a nearby picture frame to get a closer look when Lance came back into the room. He looked at him and smiled. “Got everything you need?”

 

Lance skirted the edge of the couch, flashing Kolivan a wide smile before he disappeared into the little kitchenette for a moment, reappearing with a couple of bottles of water that he usually tucked into his work bag. He’d need them tomorrow. Then he stopped right next to Kolivan. “Sure, all we need now is to pick a movie and we’re set.” He actually caught Kolivan’s hand, and tugged a bit before gesturing toward the shelf. “Go ahead, anyone you like.”

 

Kolivan blushed as he felt Lance’s hand grab his. “U-uh, sure. Um…” He pointed to a movie at random on the shelf.

 

“Oh, Tombstone. Nice.” Lance reached out and slipped the movie into his bag, his actions hitting him all at once. He froze, thanking every deity that has ever existed that he was not facing Kolivan at this point. He took an extra minute to grab one more movie, before praying his face wasn’t tomato colored before he turned around. “Well… I’m ready… Um… thanks for bringing me.”

“It’s no problem.” He squeezed Lance’s hand before he turned. “Let’s get back to my place then, shall we?”

 

Lance coughed then nodded. “R-right.”

 

As Lance was locking the door and cursing himself for his apparent lack of self control, the door across the hall opened and a cheerful face sporting a bushy moustache appeared. “Ah Lance! I was worried when you did not come home last night.”

 

Lance paused, face still turned toward Kolivan, and he frowned before turning toward the man with a bright grin. “Nah, you know me, Coran, I’m always okay! Just had a late night of work and crashed with a friend.”

 

Coran’s eyes drifted over Kolivan. “Is that so?”

 

“Don’t you, ‘is that so’ me, Coran. Kolivan, here, just gave me a ride to pick up a couple of things. I’m gonna be kinda busy with work so I won’t be back tonight.” Lance shouldered his bag. “Don’t even worry about it! I’ll see you later.”

 

He started down the hall, as Coran continued to study Kolivan before he raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

 

***

 

Kolivan put Lance’s duffel bag down on the bed. He watched as Lance walked around the room and looked out the window. That nervousness from earlier was back and he didn’t like it.

 

“Lance?” He walked over to put his hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t we watch one of those movies that you brought -- to help us relax? And I can order a pizza or something…”

 

Lance paused, head coming up, before he was back to staring out the window. “I honestly think I’d rather cook. I mean -- I think you had some steak… I can cook that? I’d hate for you to spend anything extra . It’s really okay.”

 

“If you’re sure. It’s been a long day though, I wouldn’t want you to tire yourself out.” Kolivan stood next to Lance as he stared out of the window. “At least let me help with something? I’d feel too bad just sitting there while you made dinner.”

 

That made Lance smile softly. “That’d… Be nice… I haven’t cooked with anyone since Hunk moved. You can peel potatoes, right?” He shifted, finally moving away from the window and letting his shoulders relax a bit.

 

Kolivan nodded. “Yeah, I should be able to peel potatoes.” He smiled at Lance, “Would you want to get started on dinner now? That way we can eat and watch the movie.”

 

“Actually, I am pretty hungry.. And you’re like… Two of me, you’re probably hungrier than I am!” Lance started toward the kitchen, “I used to feel tall but between you and Antok, I don’t anymore!”

 

Kolivan chuckled as he turned the lights on in the kitchen. “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry myself.” He reached into a cabinet to pull out a pan. “Alright, what do you want me to do first?”

 

Lance directed Kolivan to wash and clean the potatoes, while he seasoned the meat and started cooking. It was nice, cooking with someone, but it was also different from cooking with Hunk. This time, Lance was the one, leading and usually, Lance just followed.

 

After he finished washing the potatoes, Kolivan nudged Lance with his hip. “Now, what else do you need me to do? There’s gotta be something else that I can help with.”

 

Lance froze at the touch before he was smiling shyly. “Oh… yeah, uh - we’ll cut these up and we can fry them in a pan. Just -- cut them into little squares.” He turned back to the meat for a minute before glancing back over.

 

The poor guy looked extremely awkward, slowly and carefully cutting the potatoes into fairly large chunks. Lance had thought Kolivan was exaggerating about his poor cooking skills, but, just based on what Lance was seeing, the guy really was no good at it. But, that was alright, Lance could teach him.

 

“Oh, not like that. Those are a little too big and will take longer to cook. Here, like this.” He didn’t even think before he was shifting closer, putting a hand over the one Kolivan was holding the knife with. “Here, you start with simple cuts through this half, then you cut the opposite way..” He focused all his attention on moving the knife carefully so neither of them got cut.

 

Kolivan could feel the blush creeping up the back of his neck; his ears felt like they were on fire. “U-um, yeah… that’s --” he cleared his throat, grateful that Lance had held the knife steady because he could feel his hand twitch from where it rested underneath Lance’s. “--That’s a lot better looking than the ones I already did…” He laughed nervously.

 

Lance nodded, lightly patting Kolivan’s hand before turning back to the meat. “Yeah, you’ll get the hang of it.” He worked on the steaks for a bit, quietly chastising himself for being a complete idiot. “Uh… how do you eat your steak…?”

 

Kolivan finished chopping the potatoes and placed them back into the pot. “Oh! Um… medium-rare, but however you cook them will be fine. I’m not too picky.”

 

“Hey now, Hunk told me that a good steak is like art. Everyone likes it differently, and a good cook has to respect that. You don’t argue with Hunk about food, okay? Not even a big tough cop like you, Kolivan.” It didn’t really matter much that Hunk was a giant teddy bear, he was a hell of a chef.

 

“Okay, just put all the potatoes in that pan, and I can handle rest.” Lance grinned, having finally relaxed completely.

 

Kolivan smiled as he listened to Lance talk about his friend. He grabbed the pan that he had pointed to and put the potatoes into it. “Are you sure that you don’t need anymore help?”

 

Lance shook his head. “Nop-pe!” He popped the P sound with a flourish of his hand. “From what Antok said earlier today.. It doesn’t sound like you get to have a lot of time to just relax, so go relax, I got this. Besides, it’s the first productive thing I’ve done all day. I..” Lance cleared his throat and moved to the potato pan stirring for a moment. “I uh… Should probably tell you about the other things I found yesterday… but, I’d like to eat first if… That’s alright?”

 

“The other things? Of course, take all the time you need.” He was worried that something else had happened to Lance before he had come to the station, but he nodded his head. “I’ll just… get the table set - that way it’ll be done when the food is.”

 

“Thanks… And… um… That’s probably a good idea.” Lance glanced up, bottom lip pressed between his teeth before he went back to cooking. It took a bit of time, but eventually, he was relaxed again, humming softly under his breath.

 

Kolivan grabbed the silverware and went into the dining room to set the table. With that done, he went to go back into the kitchen but stopped in the doorway. He leaned up against the doorjamb and watched as Lance began to hum to himself - it was the first time since coming back from his apartment that Lance had looked relaxed. Kolivan smiled to himself and pushed himself off of the doorjamb - he didn’t want to interrupt Lance’s cooking so he made himself turn and go into the living room, where he mindlessly played with the apps on his phone; content to wait for Lance to finish.

 

The next time Lance left the kitchen it was with two plates, that he set down before calling out with a cheerful, ‘It’s done!” Before settling down behind the plate that was a little less full than the other.

 

“Oh wow, it smells delicious.” Kolivan sat down at the table after Lance put the plate down. He smiled, “my compliments to the chef.”

 

Lance smirked, “Which one?” Before he speared a piece of meat and stuck it in his mouth. He honestly didn’t say much as they ate, both a little nervous about his recent revelation about Kolivan and because of his worry over everything that had happened since yesterday. Honestly, he had hoped it was all nothing and everything would be back to normal tomorrow, but he couldn’t help but feel compelled to tell Kolivan about the drawer full of knives and the weird powders he’d found. But that could wait. Dinner should be a time for unpleasant discussions. Lance did not want his mom to haunt him.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “You, of course.” The conversation seemed to peter off after that point - both of them enjoying their meal. During that time time, Kolivan subtlety watched Lance as he ate; he looked conflicted about something - he also looked exhausted. They ate in silence as they both became lost in their own thoughts. He could only hope that Lance would feel safe enough to be able to get some actual rest that night.

 

As they both finished, Kolivan stood to grab their empty plates. Lance followed him out into the kitchen and stood next to him as they both loaded up the dishwasher. Kolivan put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You said that there were other things that you wanted to talk about?”

 

Lance tensed under Kolivan’s hand. “Y-yeah… I probably should right? I mean… I’m still kind of hoping this is just a big misunderstanding, and you and Antok will make fun for me for months about it… but… ” He shifted, then let out a breath, shoulders slumping. “I um… Also found a weird drawer of knives… In the bathroom…”

 

“Knives? Did you see anything else?”

 

Lance started twisting his hands together, shoulders slowly bunching up. “Yeah… there was this weird cabinet with a bunch of drawers in it. I was told to make sure everything was very clean, so I opened one of them and it was full of these weird containers with powders in it. But, I didn’t open any of them. I promise.”

 

“I’m gonna text Antok real quick to let him know what you just told me. You did the right thing by not touching anything.” Kolivan straightened up as he put the last dish in the dishwasher. “Why don’t you go grab the movies you bought while I send that text? I’ll meet you in there as soon as I’m done.”

 

Lance swallowed, “Uh… sure. Yes, I can do that.” He then turned and quietly darted out of the room and up the stairs.

 

Kolivan frowned as he watched Lance go. This was starting to sound a little more serious than they had all anticipated. He was just glad that Lance had left that house when he did. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Antok - not waiting for a reply, he pocketed his phone and switched off the light in the kitchen and made his was into the living room to wait for Lance.

 

It took Lance several minutes to come back down the stairs, both movies in hand. He’d changed out of the usual clothes he wore to work and into warm sweats. He had both movies in his hands as he settled carefully in the far corner of the couch. “Um… Here, you pick, I’ve seen them both.”

 

He set both down, and resisted the urge to curl up, like he would at his own home. He was a guest here, and he really needed to remember that.

 

Kolivan reached over to grab the movies from Lance. He looked down at the cases and was pleasantly surprised to see one of his favorites. He put the copy of Tombstone down onto one of the end tables and held up the copy of Jurassic Park. “How about this one? I used to love this one when I was younger; I haven’t seen it in years.”

 

Lance smiled, “Sure, it’s a classic. Besides, that movie has some of the best lines in it.” He leaned back a bit, but made sure to keep his feet on the floor. “I think I watch it maybe… Every other month? Sundays are movie days.”

 

“Movie days? Those sound nice…” Kolivan got up and put the dvd in the player and grabbed the remote to start the menu up. He settled back onto the couch and reached his arm back to grab the blanket from behind him. He threw it over Lance’s lap as he pressed play on the remote.

 

Lance startled when the blanket was suddenly tossed over him. He stared at it, then gave Kolivan a shy smile. “Thanks…” He adjusted, smoothing out the blanket before relaxing a bit more. “Movie days are Sunday, because I’m off that day, I make some snacks and spend the whole day buried under blankets and curled up on my couch. I know, I know, it’s boring to do the same thing every day but.. I love movies.”

 

“No, that doesn’t sound boring at all. It’s nice that you’re able to take that time to relax and enjoy something that you love.” He watched Lance sink further into the couch out of the corner of his eye and allowed himself a small smile as he got himself more comfortable.

 

Despite seeing the movie numerous times, Lance always found himself watching it like it was the first time all over again. He started yawning by the time the characters had actually reached the park. As the triceratops came into view he was listing a bit, leaning a bit more against the back of the couch, and by the time the storm finally hit, he was sound asleep, his cheek pressed against Kolivan’s shoulder.

 

Kolivan felt himself tense as Lance leaned against him, a blush already appearing on his face. He looked down at him and sighed. He let himself get caught up in his thoughts.

 

Lance had successfully wormed his way into Kolivan’s life one blanket at a time. He brought his hand up and gently brushed Lance’s bangs out of his face and smiled; he had really enjoyed having him here in his home today - wishing that it had been under different circumstances but, he still enjoyed the time nonetheless.

 

 _Maybe_ , he thought, _when this had all blown over, he would man up and actually ask him out to a proper dinner._ For now though, Kolivan let himself relax as Lance snuggled even closer into his shoulder; he put his arm around Lance’s shoulders as he grabbed the blanket to spread it out over the both of them and sat back to enjoy the rest of the movie.

 

It seemed like only moments later that the credits began rolling. Kolivan’s head jerked up, he hadn’t even realized that he had fallen asleep as well; with a quick look to make sure that Lance was still asleep, Kolivan extricated himself from the blanket, and Lance’s grip. He stretched his back out before he walked over to close the blinds and turn the tv off. A quick peek between the blinds showed the patrol car sitting outside across the street - satisfied, he closed the blinds and walked back over to the couch.

 

He looked down at Lance’s peaceful expression and was loathe to wake him so he gathered Lance in his arms - blanket, and all - and carried him up the stairs. He had to stop halfway up when Lance had shifted closer to him and started to mumble in his sleep. Once he had settled down, Kolivan resumed the short trek to the spare bedroom - Lance’s bedroom, for as long as he needed -- or wanted it.

 

Kolivan placed him in the middle of the bed and grabbed the comforter to drape over him; Lance had complained about his hatred of being cold - he didn’t want him to catch a chill in the middle of the night. He brushed Lance’s bangs back again and sighed.

 

He hadn’t expected to care so much for this boy in such a short amount of time…

 

He sighed once more and shut the door. Kolivan walked down the hallway to his own bedroom and removed his jeans to crawl into his own bed. He pulled up the blanket that Lance had given him and fell asleep just as quickly.

 

***

 

As usual, Lance woke up obscenely early. Since he needed the bus to take him wherever he needed to go, and since his apartment was so far from his work, he’d gotten used to getting up before the sun. Waking up on Kolivan’s spare room had been a surprise, but it hadn’t taken long for the memories of the last couple of days to filter through. But, given that he was well rested and honest to God warm, helped him keep an optimistic view. He was not going to worry about it today. He was going to get up, do as much as he could without waking Kolivan, and then he was going to go and clean Antok’s house, just like he was supposed to. Everything was going to be fine…

 

Kolivan woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. He groaned and rolled over to shut his alarm off before it had the chance to go off. He tried to close his eyes again but was foiled in his attempts of more sleep by a loud grumble that came from his stomach. Kolivan pulled the covers back and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from his dresser and walked down the stairs.

 

The smell got stronger the closer that he got to the kitchen. He ran his hand along the back of the couch and played with the fringe of the blanket -- _the blanket?_ He stopped and looked at the blanket folded along the back of the cushions. He had left Lance wrapped up in that blanket last night. He scratched his head and looked around the room - everything had been picked up and put away from the night before and the plant looked like it had been watered already.

 

He shook his head and a fond smile appeared on his face; Lance had been busy already. He continued his way into the kitchen and watched Lance sway back and forth in front of the stove - it sounded like he was softly humming a song to himself.

 

Lance carefully plated the eggs, and snagged the toast before turning around and jumping slightly, his grip on the plate tightening just a bit, before he set it on the counter and clapped a hand over his chest.

 

“Jesus… Scared ten years off me…” Honestly, how was a guy that big and still manage to be that quiet? He took a couple of breaths before grinning up at Kolivan. “Sleep well?”

 

Kolivan chuckled as he pushed himself off of the door frame. “Sorry about that… and yeah, I slept pretty good. How about you - were you able to sleep?” He grabbed the plate that Lance held out to him. “I see you’ve been pretty busy already too - you didn’t have to clean up or cook for that matter - not that it’s not appreciated, but this is your time off as well.” He took a mouthful of his food. “This is delicious again, by the way. At this rate, you’re going to fatten me up with all this amazing food,” he laughed.

 

Lance laughed, “No, you don’t get it. I’ve spent almost three months telling Antok every morning I go there, that cereal is not a valid food group. But, if you think this food is good, you should try Hunk’s, it’s amazing! He’s got his own place now, couple of cities over. This..” He gestured to the eggs. “Is just what he taught me before he left. Besides, I absolutely had to clean up. It’s kinda what I do, ya know?” He grinned before turning back to scoop the rest of the eggs onto another plate.

 

“I’ve never met this ‘Hunk’ but you’ll have to thank him from me for teaching you how to cook like this. Again, compliments to the chef.” He winked.

 

Lance turned around at just the right time to catch the wink before he flushed. “Oh… uh. Sure…  I’ll um, send him a message as soon as you guys are done with my phone.” He settled in the same chair as the night before, then paused before taking a bite. “Hey… um, Kolivan?”

 

“I was talking about you, Lance - not your friend.” He took another bite. “Yeah?”

 

What were words again? Oh right, focus Lance. “Um. right… I was… Just…” He shifted in the chair, before absently playing with his fork. “Everything okay, right? I mean… The stuff I found, right?”

 

Kolivan put his fork down, and looked at how nervous Lance seemed. “We’re still working on all of that, and I can understand how scary this might seem right now but none of us are going to let anything happen to you.”

 

Lance nodded, then finally took a bite, mouth set into a slight frown as he chewed. “Okay, thank you Kolivan. I really do owe you all one. Especially if it ends up just being that my imagination ran off with me.” Satisfied, he turned his attention to eating. “Oh! I almost forgot, I got your coffee ready so you can take it with you when you leave. You are… Still willing to drop me off at Antok’s right? Of not, that’s okay, it’s not a long trip on the bus from here.”

 

“Of course I’m still going to drop you off. I’d rather you not take the bus until we can figure all of this out.” He smiled at Lance, “thank you for getting my coffee ready as well. Just let me know when you want to go over then, and then we can go.”

 

Lance nodded. “Actually, I’d still be on the bus now, so whenever you usually leave is fine. I can get a couple more things done, since I had to switch the days all up. No rush, Antok is always late anyway.”

 

“You really don’t have to do anymore here, it’s fine.” Kolivan got up to put his plate into the dishwasher, and turned back to Lance. “Let me go get dressed and then we can go whenever you’d like.” He sighed. “As much as I hate to cut this short… but I should probably head into work to check up on everyone’s progress.”

 

“Right, to work we both go. I’ll clean this up, grab my coats and I’ll be ready.” He nodded, scooping one last bite before moving toward the sink.

 

***

The ride was much shorter in a car than it would have been on a bus, and it really only made Lance that much more determined to save up enough to get one of his own. He could probably buy something off a junk lot, but he really wanted something that would last for a while. He didn’t want to distract Kolivan so he kept quiet as they went but didn’t get out immediately when they pulled up.

 

“Kolivan… I just wanted to say thanks again, for everything.” He moved pressing a light kiss on the man’s cheek before bolting out of the car with his face on fire.

 

“O-oh, um. Y-yeah -- it’s not a problem… Umm --” He cleared his throat. “Um, just give me a call if you need anything, alright? I can be here in a few minutes if you need me.”

 

Lance was dedicatedly looking at anything but Kolivan. “Um… right… I’ll uh… do that… Um… thanks again.” He turned and headed up the sidewalk.

 

Kolivan waited to drive away until after Lance had unlocked the door and let himself in. He pulled out his phone and texted Thace to let him know to send the new patrol car out to Antok’s house instead of his own.

 

* * *

 

When Kolivan walked into the station, he could tell that something was wrong. The atmosphere was much different than its usual laid-back attitude.

 

Ulaz and Thace were huddled around his desk as if they were waiting for him. They looked up when the door swung shut behind him.

 

Kolivan sighed as he walked over and looked at the pile of papers they had spread out across his desk. “I’m going to assume that this is a lot more complicated than we originally anticipated?” He pulled his chair over and sat down. “Antok hasn’t really told me much yet.”

 

Thace nodded, “unfortunately, this is a lot more serious…” He pushed a pile of papers over towards Kolivan. “Take a look at these -- We were able to clear up some of the pictures from Lance’s phone; See these lists?” Thace pointed to a picture that had two lists full of names on it. “We believe these names to be accomplices of Zarkon. Some way or another, these people have either been directly involved in or associated with him in some capacity.”

 

Ulaz cut in, “We just aren’t sure who’s who yet, in regards to actually having committed a crime - other than Zarkon himself. And here’s another problem --” He pushed the picture closer to Kolivan, who picked it up to inspect the names closer. “Some of these people are pretty high up in the political food chain -- general politicians, governors, treasurers, even a few of the higher-ups in the police department. Now - it does seem like the mastermind behind the majority of the crimes is in fact Zarkon, but it appears that he’s been paying off these individuals to keep quiet and look the other way.”

 

Thace had a grim expression. “That in and of itself is a major problem because so far we can’t seem to pin _any_ evidence against Zarkon, but what concerns us the most is the fact that we _can_ connect some money trails between him and some potentially dirty cops in the force. Also --” Thace grabbed the other picture obtained from Lance’s phone - the guns. “As you can see here, we were able to obtain a partial serial number from the gun on the left and that can be traced back through a local gang known for it’s violence and petty thefts. We’re worried that Zarkon may have recruited them for something.” He sighed. “We just don’t know for _what_ yet. Which concerns us greatly for Lance’s safety. I’d recommend placing a unit on his apartment 24/7 until we can figure out how to pin any of this on Zarkon. I don’t want to take the chance of him finding out that Lance was the one to bring forth these pictures. Although…”

 

Kolivan rifled through the photographs. “Although?”

 

Ulaz sighed. “We believe that Zarkon may already suspect something - as Lance left before he was able to finish working and--” He was cut off by the sound of a chime. “That would be Lance’s phone; the battery died soon after we finished retrieving the pictures.” Ulaz got up and walked over to the outlet and disconnected the phone from the charger. “Oh no…”

 

Kolivan was up and next to Ulaz in a second. “Oh no - what?”

 

He showed the phone to Kolivan and Thace, who had also walked over. On the screen was a text message from someone named Coran.

 

_Lance - I know you said not to worry but, there were quite a few people in your apartment last night. I wasn’t aware that you had left your keys with them. Are you moving, my boy? I saw them taking a few things out._

“Shit. C’mon --” Kolivan grabbed his keys and ran to the door. “We’ve gotta get over there right now. Damn! I knew I shouldn’t have taken Lance over there after he told me he felt like he was being watched.”

 

Ulaz already had his phone out. “I’ll call Antok on the way to let him know to keep an extra close watch on Lance until after we check this out.”

 

***

 

The three of them - Thace, Ulaz, and Kolivan made the drive to Lance’s apartment in record time. When they arrived, the door was slightly ajar. Kolivan drew his gun and stepped forward as Ulaz and Thace fell into step behind him. He nudged the door open with the muzzle of the gun, and stepped inside.

 

It was absolute chaos.

 

Thace and Ulaz went off to secure the rest of the apartment to ensure that there wasn’t anyone else inside. With the rest of the rooms cleared, they both made their way back into the living room where Kolivan was holstering his gun.

 

It looked like a scene out of a horror movie. The place was trashed - furniture upended and cushions shredded; pictures broken and glass scattered all around the floor. The most disturbing thing was red paint that had been splashed all over everything; it looked like a bloodbath with all of the red splattered everywhere.

 

Kolivan stepped forward only to walk onto a picture frame that had been thrown onto the floor; t crunched as he pulled his foot away. He leaned over to pick it - the picture looked like it had been taken during some kind of party. Lance had his arm slung around a person’s shoulders - Kolivan could only assume that it was ‘Hunk,’ the friend that Lance had talked about. Lance’s face had been crossed out with some of the red paint.

 

Kolivan felt his heart drop; he whipped around to face Thace and Ulaz who had been carefully looking through the carnage. He held up the picture in his hands. “I think Zarkon already suspects something…”

 

***

 

Lance paused, and half turned to raise a eyebrow at Antok. “Dude, you are creepy staring again. It’s laundry, you’ve seen me do it before. What are you even doing here? You should have left for work like, two hours ago.” He shoved a couple more towels in the basket before facing Antok fully.

 

Antok smiled. “Oh no, no work for me today. You’re stuck with me until I hear from Kolivan or Thace. Last I heard, they were still working on your phone. So think of me as your protective detail for the time being!”

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “And since when does a protective detail, mean stand in the doorways like a stalker?” He slipped past making his way over toward the washing machine. “I mean, I appreciate it, I really do, but it’s weird being here when you are.”

 

He shrugged. “I just wanna make sure that nothing happens.” Antok walked over to lean against the wall next to Lance. “Besides,  already told you that you didn’t have to do all of this right now.” He scratched his head. “I’m sure I would have eventually figured out how to do it on my own.”

 

“And you wonder why you’re single.” Lance shook his head and finished loading the machine before pointedly staring at Antok while he pushed a button, starting the washer. “As for me doing this, I skipped you, yesterday. If I’m ever gonna get a car, I have to work. Since I begged my bosses to take that other house back, I’m gonna need to work even harder to earn more work.”

 

“I think I can survive a day or two without having the house cleaned. We’ve got much more important things to worry about that my laundry getting done. And honestly - I still would’ve paid you, it’s not your fault that all of this is going on.”

 

Lance sighed. “Antok.. I appreciate that, I really do but, I can’t just wait around. Sure, I can’t actually do anything, but I can at least do this, alright? Besides, it’s comforting in it’s own way. We all had chores growing up, and cleaning helps me zone out for a while, You see?”

 

Antok nodded. “I can definitely understand that. But you --” He was cut off by the chiming of his cellphone; he pulled it out of his pocket and frowned as he read it. “Hmmm…”

 

Lance half heard the hmm sound while he was digging out some rags from his work bag. “Hmm? Good hmm or bad hmm, or is it another I’m not entirely sure that is possible hmm?”

 

Antok looked up from his phone. “Definitely an ‘I’m not entirely sure, hmm.’ Looks like Kolivan’s on his way over, and he’s got something to talk to us about.”

 

“Huh… I wonder why he didn’t just text it to you.” Lance moved toward the kitchen, then signed. “I can’t even make lunch… What is your aversion to actual food?” Lance shrugged, the old argument mostly habit by this point. He started wiping down counters.

 

“It must be important if he didn’t want to just text me.” Antok watched as Lance started cleaning up around the kitchen. “I don’t think Kolivan’s going to be too worried about eating right now anyway, so don’t worry about lunch. He should be here soo--” He was cut off by the doorbell ringing. “Damn, that was quick,” he mumbled. “C’mon, you can do that later if you want; let me go let him in so we can all talk.”

 

Lance dropped the rag, and took a minute to wash the cleaner off his hands. It may be his job and he may even enjoy it, but he hated his hands feeling all oily from the cleaners. He ended up shoving them into his pockets before slowly following Antok to the door. He was starting to get nervous again. He kind of really just wanted to stay in the kitchen and keep pretending nothing was out of the ordinary.

 

Antok unlocked the front door and Kolivan had pushed his way inside before it was even opened. “Woah, what’s the rush?” He let Kolivan push him aside and relock the door. “Something happen?”

 

Kolivan nodded, “unfortunately, yeah.” He sighed and looked over to Lance; he hated that this would worry Lance more, but he didn’t want to lie to him. Kolivan sat down on the couch across from Lance. “So, Thace and Ulaz finished with your phone this morning but the battery died. They plugged it in and when it finished charging, there were several messages from your neighbor - Coran.”

 

Lance shifted, “I’m not surprised… he checks in on me a lot. But, he’s okay, right? Because if not, I gotta call his niece and she’s a good two hours away and--”

 

Kolivan cut him off, “he’s fine, don’t worry about that. Thace and Ulaz are actually still over there now. Lance -- we have reason to believe that Zarkon might know about what you found in his house. The text from Coran had said that he noticed several people going in and out of your apartment last night. We went over to check and - I’m sorry, but someone broke in and vandalized your place.”

 

Lance started, feeling cold all over. He shivered, then bolted up, darting for the door only for Antok to catch him. “Hey, no I gotta go…! Let me go!” He wiggled a few times before glaring up at Antok. “Seriously, let go!”

 

“No can do, bud. Sounds like we’re gonna have to find you somewhere safe to stay for the time being.” He walked Lance back over to the couch. Antok turned to Kolivan. “Did Thace say anything about where Lance can stay? I’m assuming he’s gonna have a protective detail?”

 

“Actually --” Kolivan looked at Lance. “I figured that you could just stay with me for a few more days. What safer place than with one of us?”

 

Lance glared up at Antok the entire time he was talking before finally switching his frown over to Kolivan. “Or, I could just go home and see what little I may or may not have left.” He huffed then dropped to the couch. “Yeah, fine. But, only for a couple of days. I’ll just go stay with Hunk until it all blows over.”

 

Kolivan put his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but - we can’t let you back in your apartment right now; it’s still considered an active crime scene. And--” he sighed. “We can’t let you stay with Hunk either. Your options right now are either staying with either of us, or at a safe house provided by the department. I just figured that you would feel more comfortable with either Antok or myself.”

 

Lance’s shoulders drooped. “Okay… yeah. One of you is fine. I just… I don’t understand. I don’t even know who this guy is, why would he care about me? I’m a damned housekeeper! It’s not like I’m important or anything!”

 

Antok sat down across from Lance. “Hey now, none of that. You’re not ‘just a housekeeper.’ You’re an important person. It’s just -- you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that’s not your fault. You’ve done everything right by bringing us those pictures, and it doesn’t matter that you don’t know who this person is - he knows who you are now.”

 

Kolivan nodded. “Antok’s right. Please don’t ever say that you’re ‘just something’; you are so much more important than your job. It’s just that - this, Zarkon - happens to be a very powerful individual who has a lot of pull over certain people who would, if given the chance, cause some serious damage. I don’t want to say this to make you upset, but we don’t know why Zarkon went after you’re apartment and we don’t know what would’ve happened if you had been home. We need to take this situation seriously - none of us want you to get hurt.”

 

Lance nodded. “I know… And I’m sorry, but… I can’t just… Sit around. I can’t. I mean…” Abruptly he stood up. “I think, I need a minute… Or ten.” He walked over to the bathroom door, opened it and calmly closed it again before turning on the sink and burying his head in his hands.

 

Antok looked over at Kolivan. “Well… that went well don’t you think?”

 

Kolivan groaned and put his head in hands. “I knew that was going to be bad but… ugh. I just hate that all of this is happening to him. I wish there was something I could do to make this better…”

 

Antok got up and walked over to Kolivan and put his hand on his shoulder. “The most that we can do is to keep him safe. Hey! Here’s an idea -- why don’t you take him to the range and teach him how to shoot? Maybe that would make him feel a little bit safer. I don’t think this would ever come to it, but it’s better to be prepared for anything.”

 

“That actually sounds like a pretty good idea.” Kolivan looked up at Antok and then over to the closed bathroom door.

 

“Why don’t I let you try to talk to Lance? I’ll go outside and call Thace to fill me in a little more -- give you two some privacy.”

 

“Thanks.” Kolivan stood up and made his way over to the bathroom; he knocked on the door. “Lance?”

 

Lance had been mostly content to have his own private little meltdown in the privacy of the bathroom, under the cover of the sound of the running tap. But the knock on the door, drew his head up and he sighed, just once, before standing, and washing his face before opening the door.

 

“Um… what do you need?”

 

“I wanted to see how you were doing… I know that this is a lot to process right now.”

 

“Y-yeah… I’m um… Not really processing much.” Lance’s eyes stayed on the floor. “I also…  Feel kinda bad for snapping at you both… It’s just. That’s my home. It’s not much, and I know it’s in a shit part of town, but it’s mine and I worked hard for it. Now, I can’t even go and see how bad it is…”

 

“There’s no need to apologize for that - you’re under an incredible amount of stress right now, it’s completely understandable; I’d be more worried if you hadn’t acted like that. And about going back to your apartment -- why don’t you come back to my house for the night? I can see about getting you back to your apartment tomorrow afternoon to grab some clothes. We just have to wait until the crime scene techs are finished. Antok had a pretty good idea though, for what we could do during the day so you that you don’t feel like you’re just going to be sitting around.” Kolivan grinned. “How would you feel able going to the shooting range tomorrow? I can teach you a few of the basics -- it might take your mind off of everything that’s going on…”

 

Lance was pretty sure that him with a gun was probably an absolutely ridiculous idea. He’d never even seen one before the other day and he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the idea, but.. It would be good to have something to do, especially since neither Kolivan or Antok seemed willing to let him actually do his job. Hell, it would probably make both of them feel better if he went. “I guess… I mean, I’ve never actually handled a gun before, so it probably won’t really do any good, but… I guess we can try it. But… Kolivan, don’t you have to work? I mean, until yesterday I’ve never even seen you home during the day… I…” He straightened, a frown on his face. “I don’t want to disrupt your life anymore than I am already.”

 

“Don’t worry about disrupting anything, okay? And, technically I’d still be working - not at a desk, true, but I’d be more like your bodyguard - just until this is all over. We still don’t know who is or isn’t working with Zarkon, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. Your safety is a lot more important than filling out some paperwork.” He shrugged. “Tomorrow might even be fun, at least you won’t be cooped up inside for the whole day worrying, and who knows? You might be good at it.”

 

Lance sighed, this sounded like such a bad idea. “Okay… Okay, I guess I’ll crash with you another night. I guess, you’ll be picking me up then after you’re done? Antok’s got the creepy watching thing down pretty good at this point..” He tried for a weak smile, but it was more of a grimace.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “We can go back to my place now if you’d like. I’ll even stop on the way to grab a pizza for us.” He could see the look on Lance’s face. “No buts about it - you’ve had a rough day, we can just go back to my place and watch some movies and eat some greasy pizza. How does that sound?”

Lance let out a watery laugh. “You two hire me to keep your places clean and then tell me not to clean… I’m convinced you’re both secretly big furry purple alien ninjas or something… But…  alright. Let go eat pizza…. Just, let me at least throw Antok’s clothes in the dryer, alright? Otherwise they will sit there and mold until I get back.”

 

“I’d just leave them - he’s gotta figure out how to do _some things_ on his own, but I know you’re too nice to do that.” Kolivan smiled. “Alright, I’ll be right outside with Antok -- just let me know when you’re done and we can get going.”

 

Lance nodded. “I won’t take long… And… sorry again.” He headed toward the laundry room, and changed out the clothes, worrying on his lower lip. He hated this… Maybe he should have just, left it all alone. He hadn’t actually gone looking for those things, and technically it hadn’t been any of his business, but, he was sure in a big mess this time.

 

***

 

Kolivan jerked awake to the sound of his phone’s alarm. He didn’t remember falling asleep on the couch but his sore back said otherwise. He stood to stretch and looked around; Lance still wasn’t up. He was worried about him. Him and Antok had dropped a lot of information and what-ifs on him yesterday and he hadn’t… reacted well at all -- which honestly was to be expected.

 

They had come home last night after grabbing a pizza; Lance had barely eaten anything and had retreated to the guest bedroom fairly early in the night. Kolivan hadn’t heard any noise from the room since Lance had shut himself in it.

 

He glanced down at his phone to check the time. After he decided that it wasn’t too early to go check on him, Kolivan made his way up the stairs. He knocked gently on the door, and receiving no answer, cracked the door open a few inches to peek inside. Lance was curled up in a ball, with his back to the door.

 

Kolivan sighed and opened the door a little wider. “Lance?” He whispered into the dark room.

 

Lance had spent most of the night either tossing and turning or staring up at the dark ceiling. He’d only managed to get a solid couple of hours and was considering what it was he was going to end up doing when the door creaked slightly and Kolivan’s voice sounded through the dark room.

 

He shifted, pulling the blue-gray blanket up a bit as he sat up. “Yeah?”

 

“How are you feeling?” Kolivan walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “You didn’t really eat anything last night, I was a little worried.”

 

Bringing his knees up and resting his arms on top of them Lance shrugged. “Yeah… just wasn’t hungry. I’ll make my favorite breakfast today and eat extra to make up for it, kay?” Honestly, some old fashioned cinnamon sugar toast sounded heavenly. “Sorry to make you worry…”

 

Kolivan rested his hand on Lance’s leg and squeezed gently. “Please don’t apologize for that. Of course I’m going to worry, I care about you too much not to worry.” He could feel his face heat up but hoped that the darkness of the room hid it from Lance’s view. “Why don’t I help you with breakfast? And after that, we can go to the shooting range? If you still want too, that is…”

 

Well, it still didn’t sound like a good idea but neither did moping about in a room either. Lance shrugged, before reaching out and squeezing Kolivan’s hand briefly. “Thanks. But, breakfast is just gonna be toast I think… and…” He looked toward the wall, uncomfortable. “Just… promise not to laugh when I do really badly at shooting… Whatever it is you aim at alright?”

 

“Don’t worry about being good or not at shooting, okay? It’ll be your first time. There’s absolutely no pressure to do well today - just think of it as a little stress relief, okay?”

 

Lance nodded, then he chuckled, “If nothing else, I can have a good story to tell Hunk next time I see him, right?” He shook his head. “Okay, let’s go shoot things.”

 

***

 

Lace wasn’t really sure what he expected from a shooting range but little cubicles that made him think of offices was, not even on his list. “So… you seriously spend all day in an office, then come down here to stand in another office and shoot things? Is this where all that paperwork goes to die?” He’d heard Antok complain about paperwork enough to think it was an affliction shared by all.

 

He wouldn’t exactly say he was feeling better, but it was a lot easier to keep his mind off things when he was busy. Granted, Kolivan being so adamant about him not cleaning made it a lot harder to actually stay busy. He’d barely managed to water the plant without Kolivan noticing.

 

He toyed with the earplugs Kolivan had given him, looking down the long range and feeling very out of place.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “I wish this was where all the paperwork came to die.” He handed Lance a pair of goggles as he placed his gun on the table in front of them. Kolivan had opted to bring his police-issued Beretta 92FS; it was enough of a lightweight that it shouldn’t have too much of a recoil for Lance to handle.

 

Before Kolivan let Lance shoot any of the targets, he ran him through a basic gun-safety course so that he would be able to properly handle it without the risk of accidentally hurting himself. With that out of the way, Kolivan proceeded to show Lance how to load the magazine and turn the safety off.

 

He could see Lance’s apprehension with handling the gun, so Kolivan put his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t stress too much about it, okay? You’ll do fine.”

 

The way Kolivan explained it sounded simple enough, but Lance was still really unsure about the whole thing. He understood that he had to keep it laying down pointed at other end of the room for safety, that was a given, he even understood the reasons why Kolivan suggested holding it a certain way, with one hand curled around the butt and the other cupping the bottom of his hand and the gun, for stability. He even understood the basic theory of aiming. His main problem was, he was pretty uncoordinated at times, and he was worried about messing up simply because of that. Still, it was interesting, and it was keeping his mind fully focused on the gun, so finally, Lance pulled on the goggles and earplugs before looking up and over his shoulder at Kolivan.

 

“Okay… so, let me see if I have this right…” He shifted, trying to mimic the stance Kolivan had shown him. Then he raised his hands, and frowned. “Right?”

 

“Not quite…” Kolivan stood behind Lance and reached around him to steady his arms. He brought his arms up to cage Lance’s arms in, helping him raise the gun to the proper position; he had his chin almost resting on Lance’s shoulders. “Try it like this…”  

 

Did Lance say this was a good idea? No, he had insisted over and over that it was a bad idea and this… Was not helping prove him wrong at all. Here he was, standing all weird and awkward with Kolivan wrapped around him, while he was holding a gun of all things. How was this even Lance’s life?

 

“Um… okay…” Stop it Lance, just fire the damned thing, and get this over with. “Do you, uh… want me to fire it now?” He tilted his head up and to the side, just enough so that he could see Kolivan.

 

Kolivan nodded. “Whenever you’re ready. Oh! One second, let me just fix your legs; wouldn’t want you to be off-balance now, would we?” Kolivan used his leg to push Lance into a wider stance. He paused when he realized where his leg was exactly. He stood there for a few seconds, standing behind Lance with his leg pressed up against the inside of Lance’s thigh. “Umm…” He jumped, and cursed Antok for this ‘brilliant’ idea; he felt like his ears were on fire. “Y-yeah, you can go ahead, just umm… try to aim at the target and uh -- pull the trigger.” He cleared his throat and stepped to the side of Lance. _God, this was such a bad idea - I’m gonna kill Antok._  

 

Lance swallowed, face burning, and only getting worse when Kolivan nudged his legs a bit wider with his own. He was going to die. “Um… okay…” He took a deep breath, prayed he wouldn’t look like a complete idiot, did his best to aim and fired three times like Kolivan told him to, then dropped the gun back on the little counter with a jolt.

 

“Holy… Shit.” His hands felt a little tingly, and he rubbed them together a few times, before pulling off the goggles. He tossed them on the counter and worked the earplugs free, rubbing his ears. His heart was racing, from both the act of shooting an actual gun and Kolivan’s close presence a moment ago. “Um… was that… Okay?”

 

“That was a hell of a lot better than just okay.” His jaw dropped. “Lance, that was three almost perfect shots.” He pulled his goggles off and threw the ear plugs onto the table. “You sure you’ve never done this before?”

 

“What?” Lance blinked, and peered suspiciously at the target. “Are you sure? I mean if I suck, just tell it to me straight…”

 

Kolivan pulled the cord to bring the target sheet closer. “Look at that --” He pointed to the three almost perfect bullseyes. “You seem to be a pretty good shot, so far.” Kolivan let the target sheet roll back to it’s previous position. “How about we try again, sharpshooter?”

 

Lance stared and flushed at the nickname, still slightly skeptical but even he couldn’t argue against the three shots all together on the little paper. Slowly, a grin grew on his face before he cheered and half jumped at Kolivan throwing his arms around the man. “I can’t believe I did it!”

 

“Yeah,” Kolivan chuckled. “See? I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.” He smiled down at Lance.

 

Lance tilted his head up a bit, grin still spread over his face. He locked eyes with Kolivan, and that moment, just a couple of minutes prior, when he’d had Kolivan wrapped around him, hit him hard. The little notes, including the one he still had in his pocket, inviting him out a for a meal, how nice he’d been every time they’d talked. Well, Lance never did make very good decisions, why start now?

 

“Fuck it.”

 

He leaned up just a bit, aided by his arms mostly around Kolivan’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Short, but long enough to make his point before he drew back, letting go completely and taking a step away. His face was again on fire and he kept his head down, staring at the ground, his hands tucked behind him.

 

“O-oh, umm…” Kolivan licked his lips. _Well_ , he thought, _so much for that blush going away anytime soon._ “I… that -- was that, umm… what I’m trying to say is. Can I --” He laughed. “Oh God, I’m sorry but… uh --”  

 

“But, you aren’t interested?” Lance actually spoke to the floor.

 

“Oh God, no -- I mean! Yes! I mean yes… uh -- yes.” He cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m very interested, Lance.” He grabbed his chin to make Lance look at him. Kolivan’s eyes drifted down to Lance’s lips. “Could -- could we do that again?”

 

Lance kept his eyes on the floor until fingers tilted his chin up and then he was staring up at Kolivan through his lashes. His cheeks were a dark pink, even the tips of his ears were red. His mouth opened just a bit, shocked that Kolivan actually wanted to kiss him again. Like, Lance was honestly going to say no?

 

“Please?”

 

Kolivan leaned down to close the gap between them. He hovered over Lance’s mouth for a second. “Yes,” he breathed as he sealed his mouth against Lance’s. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, before he reluctantly pulled away to look at Lance’s face; he was just as flushed as Kolivan felt. He leaned forward to lean his forehead against Lance’s. “So… what brought this on? Not that I’m complaining.”

 

Lance blinked. “Sorry.. What are words again?” He blinked again then sighed. What was the question, oh right, focus Lance, it hasn’t been _that_ long since you’ve had a proper kiss.. Has it? “Oh… well, I… um…” His hand slipped into his left pocket, and he pressed a crumpled note into Kolivan’s hand. “I was… Um… answering this?”

 

“Oh…” He unfolded the paper and saw that it was the note he had written for Lance the other day. _Had that only been a few days ago? It felt like a lifetime ago already…_ “I had thought that you weren’t interested because it was still stuck to the fridge when I had gotten home…” He smoothed out the wrinkles in the paper. “So, um… How about it? Would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?”

 

Lance shook his head several times. “I didn’t even see it until after I went to the station…” He felt a bit like a jackass, now. “… and…  I’d love to go… I’m just… not sure I’m allowed to? I mean with the whole…” He waved a hand uselessly. “Thing… ”

 

“We can always figure something out. It doesn’t matter how long I have to wait - I’ll wait as long as I have to. You deserve the best, especially after having to deal with all of this.”

 

Lance flushed, “I… I…” He shook his head again. “I dunno about that, but thanks…” He shifted, but didn’t move away. “I mean… It’s kinda my own fault right? I should have just… Done my job and then never gone back…” He smiled, small and hesitant. “But, are you sure?”

 

“Lance, please.” He grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Don’t talk like that; it’s not your fault. Not. At. All. You understand? You did your job exactly how you were supposed to, and you went above and beyond to take those pictures for us, even though you felt scared in that house. You’re so brave.” He smiled. “And I couldn’t be anymore sure about that -- I’ll wait for you as long as it takes…” Kolivan leaned down and placed a kiss on the corner of Lance’s mouth.

 

Kolivan was so sweet. Lance just couldn’t wrap his mind around it, how anyone was that big and intimidating at first but ended up being so kind and overly generous. Lance didn’t even do anything for him. What were a couple of meals, a silly plant and some blankets compared to all this? The kind words, teaching him to shoot, looking after him, and even promising to wait if need be, were worth far more in Lance’s opinion.

 

“I…” He swallowed, before trying again. “I… don’t even know what I did to make you think twice about me… But, I’d like to give this a try… Even if the situation is kinda shit..”

 

“You were just being yourself. You are so kind, loving, generous, caring… I could go on for hours, Lance. I know that the situation isn’t ideal, but I promise you that I would never let anything happen to you.” He looked at the clock on the back wall. “I think your apartment should be cleared out by now - if you’d want to go check it out? We don’t have to, if you don’t want too.”

 

“I do… I - I… I need to see. I want to know what I have to replace, and start working on it.” He glanced at the counter then back up at Kolivan. “I’m kinda nervous though, but…” He took a deep breath. “But, if you’ll kiss me one more time so I know I’m not just dreaming all this up and.. Maybe hold my hand while we’re there.. I think I can do it.”

 

Kolivan leaned down and gave Lance a quick kiss, and grabbed his hand. “I’ll hold your hand as long as you want me too. I’ll be right by your side the entire time, okay?”

 

“Yeah… okay.”

 

***

 

The car ride over to Lance’s apartment was silent - eerily so. Kolivan had gotten used to Lance’s constant talking or humming but now? Lance was sitting silently next to him, fidgeting with his hands. He sighed; he could completely understand Lance’s nervousness and anxiety but it still unnerved him.

 

Kolivan pulled the car into the parking spot and cut the engine. He looked over at Lance and could feel his heartbreak; he had been through so much in the only span of a few days. His entire life uprooted - displaced from his home, and said home vandalized and broken into. _And all for what?_ He thought to himself. _All because the company he worked for did a shit job of screening their clients._ Kolivan shook his head. _No time for thoughts like that; no use in getting angry. What’s done is done. All that mattered is Lance._ He looked over at him and frowned; Lance hadn’t moved an inch since Kolivan had parked - his head was still downcast and he fidgeted with his fingers. The only difference was his left leg - it was bouncing rapidly up and down.

 

Kolivan leaned over and put his hand over Lance’s knee. “Hey. I just want you to know that whatever you see in there -- I’ve got your back; whatever you need. If you want me to help you clean up, or if you just need someone to talk to; I’m not going anywhere.” He squeezed his leg gently.

 

Lance took a shaky breath, and looked over with a nervous expression. “I… Thanks… I have this feeling that I’m going to need to know that.” He took a couple more breaths, then almost visibly pulled himself together. His shoulders straightened, and his expression smoothed out. He clenched his hands in his gloves a couple of times before nodding. “Okay, let’s do this then.”

 

Kolivan got out of the car and waited for Lance to join him on the sidewalk. He grabbed his hand. “I’ll be here the entire time…”

 

Unlike last time, the hall was silent, and no faces peeked out to see who was there, even Coran’s door stayed closed as Lance stared at the crime scene tape that was stretched over his door. He had to steady his hands to tear it down and walked into his apartment.

 

The thing that most people don’t know about Crime Scene Technicians was that it was their job to collect evidence. Sadly, that did not always mean that they were careful with the things they were examining. In addition to the red paint that was literally splattered everywhere, there was also black powder on several things, and obvious shoeprints littering anything that was on the floor.

 

Lance stood there, eyes roving all over his home, before he started to shake, the tremors only getting worse as he found another thing broken or damaged. His bookcase was destroyed, his couch ruined and anything he’s actually valued was covered in paint.

 

“I…  I…” His pictures of him and Hunk, crumpled and ruined on the floor, his blankets shredded with something sharp. A quick glance down the short hall showed his bedroom in a similar state. “I… have nothing left…”

Kolivan squeezed his shoulder. “Lance -- I can’t even begin to understand all that you are feeling right now but…” He paused, searching for the appropriate words. “…These are all material possessions, and I know that you are upset. The only important thing is that you weren’t home when this happened.” He gestured to the room. “This is all replaceable - as impossible as that may seem right now - but you? You are more important than all of this; you can’t be replaced.”  

 

Lance nodded, eyes still fixed on the mess. “I… I know… but… Where do I even start?” He caught up a torn blanket. “Here? Or with the walls? The pictures? I just…” Lance dropped the blanket like it was on fire. He took a step back bumping into Kolivan.

 

He took another breath, then shook his head. “I guess… I start here…” He pulled out the notebook he kept in his pockets. “I can… Just… write down everything I lost so I can replace it one day?” He looked up at Kolivan, voice hopeful.

 

Kolivan nodded. “We can start there - start small, and work our way up. And hey, we don’t have to get everything done today. I don’t care how long it might take. Now --” He walked over to the middle of the room and picked up a pile of picture frames off of the floor; he happened to look over and spotted the picture of Lance and Hunk - with a quick glance to make sure that Lance was preoccupied, he pocketed the picture and straightened himself back up. “-- Why don’t we start with these?” Kolivan held out the pile of picture frames for Lance to inspect.

 

Lance took the stack and started to carefully sort through them. “Hey… This is when Hunk and I graduated…” He had a little comment for each picture, often turning them so that Kolivan could see. He slowly moved on from there to sorting through his admittedly impressive collection of blankets, frown growing a little with each one he had to set to the side. Before he eventually shoved the whole stack away.

 

“You know… Now, I’m glad I took my favorite with me when we were here last. I’m a little bummed though… I was going to leave this one for you.” He nudged a lump of almost seafoam colored material, then shook his head. “Maybe I’ll steal back the ones I gave Antok that I keep finding in the kitchen cabinet.”

 

Kolivan chuckled. “The kitchen cabinet?” He shook his head, a smile on his face. “I’ve got no idea how that man was able to survive on his own this long…”

 

“It’s where all things go to die.” Lance stated solemnly. He straightened, then shook his head. “I think… I should stop. There’s too much junk to go through and really, I’m gonna need to make about a billion trips to the dumpster. Can we..” He twisted his hands a bit. “Can we just… Go see if any of my clothes survived and I’ll come back on Sunday. I can stay the whole day then…”

 

“Of course. C’mon, let’s go check out your clothes and then we can go back to my place and watch a movie or something.” Kolivan placed his hand in the middle of Lance’s back and followed him into his bedroom.

 

By the time they left, Lance had a small bag of clothes, all dirty because he was convinced the universe hated him, his sewing kit, that had fortunately been under his bed, a couple of movies that had escaped damage and the warmest slippers Lance had ever found. He even managed to ignore Kolivan laughing at the fact they were shaped like ducks… mostly.

 

***

 

The next couple of days passed quietly. Lance had flat out insisted on going back to his job, and despite Kolivan and Antok’s protests, that was exactly what he did. He probably spent more time with Antok, in those few days than he ever had in the five months he’d been working for the man.

 

“I don’t know how many times we’ve gotta tell ya, but you don’t have to work yourself to the bone right now.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes. “Did you see my apartment? I have at least twelve blankets and more movies than I can count to replace. That’s not counting the other stuff.” He looked up from his spot on the floor. “Wouldn’t you try and get started right away?”

 

“I guess… but you could at least ask for some help from any of us; there’s no need to try to do all of this on your own.”

 

Lance dunked the rag back into the bucket. “I’m not. See, consider.” He held up his hand and started counting off on his fingers. “I have a place to stay because of Kolivan, steady work from you and Kolivan, and a whole team of detectives working on this for me. I’ve got a lot of help. Besides, you can’t even _find_ the blankets that I gave you. How can I trust you to help me get new ones?” He grinned.

 

Antok pouted. “It’s not that I can’t find them… it’s just that -- they misplaced themselves.” he nodded, “yeah, yeah - they displaced themselves. Not sure how but it’s definitely not my fault. Nope, not at all. But seriously, we want to help you as much as we need; we wouldn’t offer otherwise.”

 

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Okay, say I buy that. Let’s make a teeny wager shall we?”

 

“Oh? A wager? What do you have in mind, then?”

 

“I bet that when Kolivan gets here, he can tell you exactly where your missing blankets are. If he can’t, I’ll cook for you for a week, if he can you buy me three blankets of my choosing.” He held out a hand. “Deal?”

 

“Hmm… I guess I’ll take that wager.” He shook Lance’s hand and grinned. “I hope you’re ready to be my personal chef for the week.”

 

Lance grinned. “Dude, personal chefs make a lot of money. I don’t have those kinda skills. But, we’ll see, when he gets here.”

 

“Oh yes, we’ll definitely see…”

 

***

 

Kolivan pulled his car into the spot in front of Antok’s house. He ran his hands down the front of shirt to try to smooth out the wrinkles; his hands were sweating - so it didn’t really help much. He sighed as he looked down at the wrinkles and now, the slight sweat stains from his palms.

 

He had gotten off of work a little early to try and surprise Lance with an actual date. He didn’t know why he was so nervous - Lance had already said yes, so honestly, he didn’t really have anything to worry about.

 

He got out of his car and turned to lock the doors. Walking up the short flight of stairs to Antok’s front door felt like it took him forever. Kolivan knocked and fidgeted with his hands as he waited for his friend to open the door.

 

“Hey! You’re done early! C’mon in.” Antok swung the door open all the way and stepped inside.

 

“Y-yeah. I, uh - kinda wanted to surprise Lance.”

 

“Oooh, you did?” He snickered. “He’s gonna love it. Let me just grab him for ya.” Antok spun to face the interior of the house and yelled. “LANCE!”

 

“Really?” Kolivan deadpanned. “I thought you said you were going to go find him?”

 

Antok shrugged, “That way was easier. Ah, see! There he is! Looks like you’re done for the day bud.”

 

Lance rounded the corner, wiping his hands one one of his rags. “Says who… Oh! Kolivan, hi!” He smiled, before moving around to pick up his things. “You’re early, must have been a good day!” It only took a couple of minutes before Lance had his work bag packed and was slipping into his various layers. “Antok. Don’t you have something to ask Kolivan here?” He smirked, before it turned into a straight grin, wide and cheerful.

 

“Something to ask --? Oh! Yeah” He turned back around to face Kolivan. “You wouldn’t happen to know where any of my blankets disappeared to, would you?”

 

Kolivan looked over Antok’s shoulder at Lance and chuckled. “As a matter of fact - I can.”

 

Lance snickered, mostly at the look on Antok’s face. “Go on, show him, he’ll never believe it otherwise.”

 

Kolivan shook his head, but he had a small smile on his face. He walked around Antok and headed for the kitchen. Opening the last cabinet by the wall, he pulled out a pile of Antok’s blankets.

 

Antok spluttered, “W-what!? How did you even know they were in there?! I didn’t even know that!”

 

Lance was doubled over, laughing too hard to even talk, but he kept waving one hand around. Once he finally contained himself, all he managed to say was “where all things die,” Before he was off laughing again.

 

Kolivan smiled as he watched Lance laugh.

 

Antok grumbled, “fine, fine. I guess I owe you some new blankets then, huh?”

 

Lance reached over and patted Antok’s arm. “Yeah, you do… Next time, I’ll tell you what I want.” He grinned over at Kolivan, before straightening. “Just let me hit the bathroom before we go okay?” He wandered toward the door, still chuckling.

 

“Take your time -- I’m not in any kind of rush.” Antok ribbed him in the side as Lance left the room. “So… any reason you’re done early? You - who always works late nights?”

 

Kolivan looked away and rubbed at the spot on his side. “I… I, uh - wanted to take Lance somewhere nice to cheer him up.”

 

“Oh! So a date, then?”

 

Antok had expected Kolivan to get on him for the gentle teasing but all he did was nod. “Yeah, a date - a proper one. I just wanted to do something nice for him to get his mind off of what happened at his apartment.”

 

Antok smiled. “Good for you. Don’t think that we all hadn’t noticed how you acted around him or when you talked about him. We are detectives after all.” He chuckled. “So, you have any plans? Or are you just gonna wing it?”

 

“Well, I figured that we’d --”

 

“Hey, sorry about that!” Lance smiled then froze. “Uh… did I miss something?”

 

“Nope!” Antok walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. “Nothing at all! Now go ahead - get out of here, and enjoy your evening! I’ll see you in a few days.”

 

“Monday! Bye Antok!” Lance snagged his bag before following Kolivan out to the car. “I’m glad it was a good day for you, also… Thanks for playing along. He was just so insistent about helping me out, that I couldn’t help it. I feel a little better since we made it a bet instead of just outright asking him.”

 

“It’s fine - It’s always fun to play around with Antok a bit.” He slowed down to pace Lance. “And you don’t have to feel bad about asking for help, that’s what we’re all here for.”

 

“I know…” He shivered a bit at the cold.. “It’s just… You gotta remember, I started with Antok a lot like I started with you. I was there to do my job. We didn’t become friends until after… So it’s just awkward for me to go up and say, ‘dude all my shit is gone, help a man out.’ You know?”

 

“I can understand that. Okay,” Kolivan reached out to grab Lance’s bag from him and open the car door. “I figured that we could do something tonight if you’d want to?”

 

Lance slipped into the still warm car with a grateful smile. “Uh, okay…? What did you have in mind?”

 

Kolivan shut his door and walked around to the other side. He slipped inside and started the car. “Umm… I thought maybe we could go to dinner?” He fidgeted with his seatbelt. “I figured that since you treated me to that amazing dinner the other night that I could treat you -- and since we’ve already established that I can’t cook…” He chuckled. “I thought that this would be the next best thing… We don’t have too if you’re too tired or anything. I - I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything…”   

 

Lance blinked, before a soft smile and a blush crossed his face. “So… like a date? Because… I haven't had a date in a while… and… well.” He turned, ducking his head to buckle his own seatbelt. “My um… Answer to your question hasn’t changed.”

 

Kolivan grinned and reached over to touch Lance’s knee. “Yeah… like a date.” His face was getting to be as red as Lance’s. He cleared his throat. “And… I’m glad that your answer hasn’t changed.” He squeezed Lance’s knee before he let go; leaning over, he started the car. “Luckily the place I wanted to take you to isn’t too far. Should only be a minute or two until we’re there.”

 

Lance coughed, “sure sounds good. Um.. do I get to know where.. Or is it a surprise?”

 

“It’s a surprise.” Kolivan winked. “But I’m sure you’ll like it…”

 

If Kolivan kept winking at him, Lance was sure he was going to die before they even got there. But, as embarrassed as he was, he kinda loved the fact that Kolivan was interested enough to do those kind of things.

 

They turned the corner, and Kolivan pulled the car into a small parking lot. He put the car in park and jumped; walking around to Lance’s side, he opened the door and held out his hand to pull Lance to his feet. He locked the car and led Lance towards the restaurant. It wasn’t a terribly large restaurant. Kolivan had been here many times before - _Carollo’s Family Restaurant & Pizzeria. _He could admit that it wasn’t the fanciest place that he could’ve taken Lance, but he figured that a nice, relaxed place would be better for the two of rather than some stuffy five-star restaurant.

 

He pulled the door open for Lance. “After you.”

 

Lance was smiling, before he stretched up and pecked Kolivan’s cheek. “You’re too sweet. Thanks.” He moved inside, looking around before shifted as his stomach growled. “Okay… I guess I’m hungrier than I thought…”

 

Kolivan chuckled. “I’m glad you’re hungry -- they’ve got amazing food. The garlic knots are to die for. Here,” He walked past the _please seat yourself_ sign and motioned to a booth by a window. “We can sit over here.”

 

Lance nodded, and bit his lip before shyly slipping his hand into Kolivan’s. “I gotta ask… Did you hunt down Hunk and ask him about my favorite food? Because I love garlic knots. How did you know?”

 

He shrugged. “You seem to forget that I’m a detective,” he joked. “But no, Honestly it was just a lucky guess. I’m glad I picked a good place though.”

 

“Well I’m impressed. Actually, I was honestly a little surprised you didn’t run an in depth background check on me like Antok did. Still, it was a great idea, thank you Kolivan.” He slid into one side of the booth, taking a minute to look out the window before picking up a menu from where it was tucked behind the napkin holder.

 

Kolivan picked up his menu and smiled over the top of it at Lance. He was just about to say something when the waiter walked over; he order a bottle of white wine for the two of them. He watched Lance scan the menu a few times. “You can get whatever you want. All the food here is pretty delicious.”

 

Lance shook his head a few times. “I know that I’ve got to try the garlic knots, because those are my favorites.. But, what’s yours?” He closed the menu, looking at Kolivan. “I have no idea what you even like to eat.”

 

“Hmm… I’m not too picky with my food. If it sounds good, I’ll most likely eat it.” He chuckled. “I usually try to get something different every time I come here.”

 

“Oh… Well… what about music?” He set the menu aside for now, happy enough with his choice and a bit more interested in learning about Kolivan than actually eating.

 

“Music? Well, that usually changes depending on my mood. I enjoy almost everything - from country to rap to rock to top 40 hits.” He shrugged. “How about you? Any favorite types of food or music?”

 

Lance smiled, leaning forward a bit. “Well… I like anything Hunk cooks, but I can’t stand mushrooms, I like… any kind of music I can dance to, and… I like the rain…” He shifted a bit, before playing with the edge of his menu.

 

Kolivan watched Lance fidget with his menu. “Any particular reason you enjoy the rain?”

 

He glanced out the window then shook his head. “I like everything about it. The sound it makes hitting the roof, the smell if it in the air… how.. Everything looks new after it passes. Silly I know, but I’ve always liked it.”

 

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s not silly at all.” Kolivan smiled and gestured to the menu. “So, have you been able to decide on something?”

 

“Um… actually…” He fiddled with the menu again then shook his head. “I’m not really…” He sighed. “I’ve um, kinda got that feeling again?”

 

Kolivan swiveled to subtlety look around the room. “How about we take our food to go? Or would you rather just leave? It’s your choice - I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

 

“I… kind of hate ruining this nice surprise.. on just a feeling… But… yeah, can we just… Order to go?” Lance felt terrible about it. He’d felt fine when they’d sat down but the long they sat there the more uncomfortable he felt. “I’m sorry.”

 

“There’s absolutely no reason to be sorry.” Kolivan reached across the table to place his hand over Lance’s. “I’d much rather be safe than sorry. C’mon, let’s go up to the counter and place our orders to-go.”

 

Lance still felt terrible, but he slid out of the booth and followed Kolivan to the counter, quietly offering his choice when asked but otherwise, simply waiting quietly.

 

Kolivan ordered and paid for their food. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Lance was fidgeting again; he glanced out the window behind Lance and saw what looked to be a person duck back into the shadows. He grabbed Lance’s hand to pull him closer to himself.

 

After grabbing their food, Kolivan led Lance out to the car; he opened the door for him and once Lance was seated, he handed him the bags of their food. Kolivan started the car and backed out of the parking lot. He was glad that they had decided to get their orders to-go, he was starting to get the same feeling that they were both being watched.

 

***

 

Kolivan couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched the entire ride back to his house. Instead of leaving his car in the driveway like he usually did, he pulled into the garage and waited until the door had slid shut and locked to walk around to Lance’s side of the car to grab the food from him. He walked them through the basement, and deciding to not ignore his gut feeling - or Lance’s - he also locked the basement door.

 

Setting the food down on the kitchen counter, he turned to Lance. “Why don’t you go pick a movie for us, and I’ll get this all on some plates.”

 

“I had no idea that door down there even opened… Man..” He twisted his hands together a bit, then shoved them in his pockets. “Yeah.. I can do that.. I am sorry, Kolivan. It was a great surprise..”

“Like I said earlier - it’s not a big deal. Plus,” he winked. “This is a lot cozier than the restaurant anyway.”

 

He flushed and turned toward where the little stack of movies he had salvaged from his apartment were.

 

Lance didn’t exactly have a favorite movie, instead he had many different ones that enjoyed enough to watch them over and over. Tombstone was one of those movies. He loved Westerns, loved the gentlemanly but wild way of the gunfighters, the feats they could do with their guns. When he was little, before he grew up and learned better, he had wanted to be a gunfighter. Now, though he was content to just appreciate the way actors portrayed them.  

 

Kolivan joined Lance just as he slid the dvd into the player. He handed Lance his plate and before sitting down himself, walked over to shut his blinds and double-check that the front door was locked.

 

It’s not even twenty minutes in, when Lance looks to Kolivan to ask him a question only to see that he’s sound asleep. His head was leaned back on the couch at an angle guaranteed to make his neck hurt and Lance couldn’t help but smile at him.

 

Quietly, Lance paused the movie, and started shifting around, slipping off the couch and setting their plates on the little coffee table before carefully lifting Kolivan’s legs to lay him out on the couch properly. It was slow going, mostly because Kolivan was much bulkier and larger than Lance was, but he eventually got him settled into a more comfortable position. That left just the problem of where would Lance sit.

 

Well, maybe it was time for Lance to show a little initiative. After all, Kolivan had tried to take him somewhere nice, so maybe it was Lance’s turn to make a move. He inched his way back up, and slowly settled himself in the tiny space between Kolivan and the back of the couch. He shifted, getting as comfortable as possible, before unpausing the movie and resting his head on Kolivan’s chest.

 

Lance relaxed, letting the familiar lines of the movie wash over him, content with his surroundings and with the warmth he was wrapped in. He was asleep before the scene at the OK Corral.

 

When Kolivan woke up, it was to a dark house, and the TV playing the menu music for the movie. It took him a minute to realize that the weight on his chest was actually Lance’s head, resting over his heart. He shifted, a blush slowly growing as he grew more aware, and realized, that Lance had one hand wrapped around his waist and that one of Lance’s legs was settled in between his own. It was comfortable but very intimate.

 

He was so grateful for the darkness of the room - it hid his blush well. He wanted to move - _well_ , he thought, _not that I want to move exactly…_ It was more of a feeling that he _should_ move but… he was so comfortable. It was warm underneath Lance. Kolivan looked around; spotting the blanket, he gingerly extricated his arm and grabbed it to drape over the two of them. He smiled as Lance snuggled in closer to him. He slid his arm under the blanket and placed it in the middle of Lance’s back; he was lulled back asleep by the gentle rumble of Lance’s light snores.

 

***

 

It was almost like a little three-way battle. Thace was glaring, while Ulaz looked almost amused. Lance however, had one eyebrow raised, and kept his eyes on Thace despite actually addressing Ulaz.

 

“So, let me see if I have this straight.” Lance paused and held up a finger. “You want me to consent, to going out and being used as bait to lure this, how did he put it… Oh right, murdering gang boss out in the open.” Lance’s eyes finally flicked to Ulaz. “Seriously?”

 

Ulaz kept his smile. “Well, we really do feel that it is the best course of action. Not just for us, but for you as well.”

 

“Don’t you want to, I dunno, go home? Get back to how your life is supposed to be?” Thace pressed, “It’d be good for all of us, yourself included, not to have to look over your shoulder anymore. You can come and go as you please again, go to work. If you’ll work with us on this, then everything can go back to how it should be, in no time.”

 

Lance hadn’t even considered that. That once this guy was caught, he’d go home again, start putting his life back together, that Kolivan would go back to working all the time… Maybe… It wasn’t right to draw it out just because Lance had found something good about it.

 

Ulaz shook his head at Thace over Lance’s head, but Thace shrugged. He was aware that Kolivan and Antok were likely to be angry over this, but they needed some kind of break in this case, and all they really had was this kid.

 

Lance had never really had a good opinion about himself, finding it far too easy to make fun of himself, until it became a kind of second nature. So for Lance, hearing Thace say that everything should go back the way it was, was almost like an agreement with all of Lance’s doubts. It would likely be better if he helped, despite Kolivan and Antok telling him to stay inside.

 

Finally, Lance sighed. “You’re right…” Both Ulaz and Thace immediately turned their heads to stare. “I’ve caused you all a lot of trouble… Kolivan and Antok most of all.” He stood, and headed for his coat. “So, let’s go do it right now.”

 

Ulaz frowned. “Now?”

 

Lance nodded. “Yeah, right now. Sooner the guy comes after me, the sooner everything goes back to the way it was, right?” He looked up, directly at Thace.

 

“Yes?” Thace had been pushing for this, but he hadn’t expected Lance to actually agree, and certainly not to want to go immediately. He was sure they would have to ask him several more times.

 

“So how do we do this? I’ve never been bait before.” Lance ducked a bit, slipping on his shoes.

 

“Well,” Ulaz started. “We’ll simply go out to eat, in a place near their known haunting grounds. Thace and I will leave the table several times, but we will be watching closely to make sure that you aren’t hurt.”

 

“If - for some reason, someone does approach you, do not go with them. Do whatever you have to to keep them there until we get back to you.” Thace pulled out his phone, “I’ll call for some extra units to be posted nearby so we’ll be prepared for any possibility.”

 

Lance shrugged, not really caring about the little details. Just… a lunch and… Lance will go back to his little apartment, and back to his job, and that will be it.

 

***

 

Lunch had not gone well at all. As they had said, Thace and Ulaz both left the table several times, they were gone so much that Lance felt like he was eating alone rather than with anyone. But no one approached him, no one even really looked at him. By the time they were heading back toward Thace’s SUV, Ulaz was frowning, Thace was complaining, and Lance was utterly done.

 

“It’s laziness.” Thace stated, stopping halfway to the car, and turning to Ulaz. “Pure laziness. I probably played five games of solitaire while we were there, and nothing. Motivated gangs would never have let an opportunity like that slip by.”

 

Ulaz rolled his eyes. “Thace, it is not realistic to believe that Lance is Zarkon’s only concern. It was a sudden decision, and it is his first time leaving Kolivan’s for at least three days, it is unlikely that they expected him to venture out at all.”

 

Lance watched them discuss how poorly it had gone for another minute before he sighed. He just wanted to go back to Kolivan’s, shower and go to bed. He didn’t even care that it was two in the afternoon. He was going to lay down for the rest of day, and have a proper pity party in the privacy of the room he was borrowing. Then, he was going to do what he had to in order to end this mess, and let Antok and especially Kolivan get back to their lives.

 

“I’ll just… wait at the car…”

 

Thace waved a hand at him, too involved in his argument to actually register the words.

 

Lance walked over to the SUV and around it, so he didn’t have to watch them fight anymore. He, leaned against the locked door, and sighed. He hated that he hadn’t realized how much he had disrupted their lives. He’d been so caught up in himself that he hadn’t known that no matter how nice it was for him to spend all that time with Kolivan, and Antok too, that they had much more important things to do. He _should_ have known that. He cleaned for both of them and they were almost never home, now Kolivan was spending almost every day there, and Antok kept popping in, as the day went on. Lance was _such_ an **idiot** …

 

“Hey, got the time?”

 

Lance blinked out of his thoughts, and raised his head to answer when pain exploded in his jaw as his head snapped back and hit the car. His hand came up, to clutch at his jaw, and he was sure blood was already filling his mouth. He caught a glimpse of four guys before a hand curled in his jacket and jerked him forward slightly.

 

The guy grinned, showing two missing teeth. He had brown hair and cold eyes. Chuckles came from the other men, but Lance kept his eyes on the one holding his jacket. “Zarkon sends his regards.”

 

A fist buried itself in Lance’s stomach, and he couldn’t help the gasp he let out. The hand in his coat shoved him backward against the car again, as two of the guys moved close and grabbed his arms tightly.

 

“Let’s deliver him already…”

 

“Hey asshole!” Lance was pretty sure he’d lost his mind, but all he could think of was that Thace had told him to so whatever he had to to keep these guys there. So he did something even Lance knew was completely stupid. He spat the blood from his mouth, directly into the guy’s face, and did the unthinkable. Lance kicked the guy square in the crotch.

 

The goon shrieked and hit the ground hard, but it was open season after that. A knee hit him in the stomach, as another fist nailed him in the jaw. The arms holding him vanished and Lance hit the ground hard, before a boot caught him in the side. He really wasn’t sure how long he was there, on the ground, but he knew every hit he took, a kick to the back, right near the kidney, another stomped on his ankle causing a sickening crack and searing pain shooting up his leg. Lance was pretty sure he screamed at that one. Another boot kept trying to stomp on his hand, face, neck, then abruptly, it all ended.

 

Lance stayed where he was, hands curled to protect his head. He vaguely registered someone calling his name, but he honestly didn’t care. He was done. He was going home and damn the consequences.

 

***

 

Kolivan rubbed at his temples; he couldn’t seem to concentrate. Thace and Ulaz had showed up at his house earlier that day and told him that they would watch over Lance because he was needed at the station along with Antok. He had been reluctant to leave Lance but he had all but pushed him out the door telling him to not worry; he had bent down to press a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek and had left.

 

That was four hours ago, and Kolivan had barely made a dent in the paperwork that littered his desk. He looked over to Antok and could see that he hadn’t fared any better; they were both stressed out and worried about Lance - not that they had any reason to be with Thace and Ulaz with him.

 

He reached over to grab another pile of forms to fill out when the radio in the corner of the room crackled to life.

 

_‘Requesting immediate backup to 1158 Bristol Pike. 240 and 207A in progress. Suspects were apprehended. 11-41 Ambulance needed at scene. Victim is male, early 20’s.’_

 

Antok’s head snapped up at the same time that Kolivan’s had. “Was that --?”

 

Kolivan was already up and halfway to the door. “Shit! That was Thace - we gotta go.”

 

Honestly, Kolivan couldn’t remember leaving the station or the drive over to the scene. It was absolute chaos - there were four other patrol cars already there with their sirens blaring. Kolivan jumped out of the car before Antok had even come to a stop.

 

A quick survey of the scene showed four suspects - already handcuffed and in the backs of the patrol cars. Kolivan spotted Thace and Ulaz huddled around the back of an ambulance next to the EMT. Lance was perched on the back of the ambulance and from what little Kolivan could hear - it appeared that he was refusing medical assistance.

 

He stomped over and shouldered past Thace and Ulaz. “I’ll deal with you two later,” he grumbled. To say that he was pissed at his colleagues was an understatement, but all he was worried about now was Lance. Kolivan - afraid to touch him - knelt down in front of Lance. “What happened?”

 

Lance shook his head. “Nothing. Everything happened just like it was supposed to.” He had the beginning of an impressive bruise on his jaw, and he was sitting completely still, eyes fixed on his ankle.

 

“Lance! This is obviously _not_ nothing. Look at yourself -- what the hell happened? You were supposed to stay inside my house.” Kolivan backtracked. “And what do you mean that ‘everything happened just like it was supposed to?’”

 

Finally Lance turned his head toward Kolivan. “They were supposed to come after me. I was bait.” His eyes drifted, moving right over Thace and Ulaz before landing on Antok for a moment before he looked back at Kolivan. “Now, everything can go back the way it was, like he said it should be.” Lance stared at Kolivan before he returned his attention to his swollen ankle.

 

“What --” He ground out. Kolivan stood to face Thace and Ulaz. He advanced towards them both, voice low and menacing. “What the fuck were you two thinking? This isn’t some goddamn game.”

 

“Kolivan --”

 

“No. This wasn’t supposed to be some kind of vigilante bullshit! We were working on this case the right way.” He wheeled to face Ulaz. “What the hell were you thinking? Using Lance as bait? The both of you set him up for failure with this and you knew it.”

 

Thace spoke up. “Lance agreed to help us. He’s just as tired of the situation as we are.”

 

“‘Tired of the situation?’ You’ve gotta be kidding me -- this is your job! You don’t get to pick and choose what cases you get assigned.” Kolivan poked Thace in the middle of his chest. “You’re supposed to do your damn job to the best of your ability whether you like it or not. I don’t care that you were able to make an arrest out of this --” He rubbed his hand down his face. “Lance’s safety was your number one priority today and you fucked up. Big time. Just -- get the hell away from me - the both of you - before I do something that I’m going to regret. I need to take care of Lance right now.” He sighed as he watched them walk away. “Antok?” Kolivan looked over to where Antok was trying, and failing, to convince Lance to let the EMT look him over. “Can you figure out what’s going to happen with everything now?”

 

“Yeah, sure thing.” He stood and gently patted Lance on the shoulder.

 

Kolivan walked over to Lance and sat down next to him. “I can’t forgive myself for letting this happen to you. I promised that I would keep you safe. I’m so sorry…”

 

Lance shook his head. “No… it’s for the best, right? Now, that you have these guys, you can get Zarkon. Thace said that as soon as he’s arrested, everyone can get back to their own lives.” He leaned forward a bit, gently prodding at his ankle and doing an excellent job of ignoring the EMT’s protests. “Bruises fade…”

 

“Lance…” He sighed. “While I am grateful that people who did this to you have been arrested; this isn’t that way that it should’ve happened.” Kolivan gently pulled Lance into a hug. “You’re safety was my number one priority -- it should’ve been Thace’s as well. Thace had tunnel-vision when it came to finding a way to pin Zarkon down - this definitely wasn’t an appropriate way of doing so.” Kolivan rested his chin on the top of Lance’s head. “I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to apologize enough for what you’ve had to endure. This is all my fault. I should’ve stayed with you…”

 

“You can’t stay with me every second. You have a job, and.. It’s important.” Lance tucked his face a bit closer before sighing and shaking his head. “So, go and do it. I’ll go back, and lay down and everything will be fine…” He bit his lip, before straightening back up, and rubbing at his back. “Ice, then lay down… I think.”

 

“Lance - _you_ are my job, and yes, you are very important. I take my job very seriously - you should know that by now. The only thing I’m worried about is making sure that you’re okay.” He waved his hand. “Antok can take of anything else - you’re all that matters right now.”

 

Lance honestly wasn’t sure what to think. Thace had said it would be best if everything went back to how it was, but Kolivan kept insisting that Lance was important. He was really confused and he honestly wasn’t sure how much of it was him and how much of his was due to the ringing in his ears. “Okay… Can we go then?”

 

“We need to at least let the EMT check you out to make sure that you’re not seriously injured or in shock, and then we can go.”

 

Lance sighed, glaring at the medic. “I’m fine. It’s a bunch of bruises and a busted ankle. I’d rather not let just anyone real close right now…”

 

“Alright, how about this --” He turned to talk to the medic. “I’ll take full responsibility for his wellbeing.” Reluctantly, the medic handed Kolivan a waiver to sign and released Lance to his care, along with a few supplies to treat his various injuries. With that taken care of, Kolivan stood and offered Lance his hand to help him up. “Let’s go get you some rest now, okay?”

 

As Lance struggled to get up the medic finally spoke up. “He really needs to stay off that.”

 

Lance scowled, but he still managed to stand up, one hand curled around Kolivan’s and the other braced on the side of the ambulance. “I’m fine. Okay, I’m fine.”

 

Before Lance had a chance to protest again, Kolivan bent down and scooped him up. He smiled at the medic. “I’ll make sure that he does. C’mon.” He hollered over to Antok. “I’m going to take your car, alright?”

 

Antok waved him off and tossed him the keys. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll grab a ride with someone here. Just take care of Lance.”

 

“Thanks, man.” He hoisted Lance higher in his arms as he walked towards the car.

 

“Oh my God… put me down!” Lance had one hand clapped over his red face and the other was looped around his middle. “Kolivan.. Please? You don’t have to.. Carry me.”

 

Kolivan chuckled. “You heard the medic -- you need to stay off that ankle.” He leaned down to lay a kiss on Lance’s red cheek. “It’s either me carrying you or I could always turn back around and let the medic take care of you.”

 

Lance groaned dramatically and pressed both hands to his face. He shook his head several times, but froze and went really quiet when they passed Ulaz and Thace. Lance kept his silence all the way to the car, fidgeting as Kolivan put him on the seat.

 

Kolivan shut the door and sighed. He was upset with himself for allowing something like this to even happen; he had promised to keep Lance safe and out of harm’s way, but look at where they were now. He walked around to the driver’s side and slid into the car. With a quick glance at Lance, he made up his mind -- he’d never again let something like this happen to him.

 

***

 

When they arrived back at Kolivan’s, he once again ignored Lance’s protests and carried him into the house and placed him onto the couch. Kolivan went to lock the front door; he took a deep breath and turned back around to face Lance. “I think we should talk about what happened today. You can’t possibly think that arresting Zarkon is more important than your wellbeing -- your life? Can you?”

 

Lance twisted, wiggling around a bit on the couch. He sighed, then shrugged. “To be fair, I was unaware that I would be attacked in a parking lot. Thace made it sound like whoever showed up would just try to drag me off.”

 

Kolivan paused on his way back over to Lance. “Thace told you what, now?” He walked back over to sit across from Lance. “First of all, Thace never should have even thought of putting you in a situation like that; and second, Lance -- you had every right to tell him no. You didn’t have to go through with it.”

 

“I know… Ulaz explained that they needed me to say yes to it.” Lance finally settled in an awkward looking position but nothing hurt this way. “But, Kolivan… They spent almost an hour telling me that it would close the case. That, it would be good for everything to back to how it was before.” He fixed his eyes on his lap. “I realized how much it’s got to inconvenience you and Antok. So I figured, since I got everyone into this mess, I should at least help fix it right? Let everyone… Get back to their lives?”

 

Kolivan fumbled with the ace bandage that he had been pulling out of his pocket. _I’m gonna kick both their asses for this_ , he thought as he pulled out the gauze pads that the EMT had given him. “Listen, Lance -- you should’ve told them no.” He sighed. “No case is worth risking yourself for - no matter what Thace and Ulaz told you. I get that you wanted to help - and thank you for doing so - but, they should’ve known better than to even ask you. They took an oath to ‘protect and serve’ and they failed to protect you.” Kolivan leaned forward to clean Lance’s ankle with the gauze. “You don’t have to agree to everything they say just because they’re cops. You’ve got rights too.”

 

Lance fiddled with his hands. “I’m sorry… I keep messing things up. This was all my fault too. Thace had said, I shouldn’t let anyone take me anywhere… so… After the guy hit me, I um…” Lance looked away, facing the wall. “Spit in his face and kicked him in the crotch… which is why his friends jumped me.”

 

“Hey, no. Look at me Lance. You haven’t messed anything up and don’t you dare let anyone else tell you otherwise. You understand?” Kolivan placed Lance’s ankle on his lap to begin wrapping it. “You were so brave for doing that -- you fought back against those four people. If there’s one thing I’m happy about all of this - it’s that Thace told you not to let them take you anywhere. And that you listened.” He finished wrapping Lance’s ankle and placed it back on the couch. “Now, don’t go anywhere - I need to get you some ice for that.”

 

Lance’s arm shot out and caught Kolivan’s hand. “But… I upset you… and I hate that. It wasn’t your fault that I didn’t listen to you. I won’t do that again, okay? So please… Don’t say it was your fault again… Because it really was mine for not listening to you.”

 

Kolivan sighed. “How I about I make you a deal? I promise not to say that any of this was my fault - as long as you stop saying that any of this was your fault?”

 

Lance dropped Kolivan’s hand. “Yeah… okay, I can agree to that…”

 

He didn’t really get why Kolivan was so upset about it. Yeah, Lance got hurt and that sucked, but everything turned out okay, hadn’t it? They could finish their work and arrest the guy, wasn’t that what they had wanted? He was really confused.

 

Kolivan watched the expressions flit across Lance’s face. “Listen, I’ll say this as many times as it takes for you to believe it -- it wasn’t your fault. The only people at fault are Thace and Ulaz. As grateful as I am that we were able to arrest the men that did this to you - it never should’ve come to this. All I - and Antok - care about is your safety.”

 

“Okay…” Lance sighed. “I’ll tell you from now on?”

 

“That’s all that I ask.” He turned back towards the kitchen. “Now, let me go grab you some ice for that ankle.” Kolivan disappeared into the other room for a few minutes. He returned with a bag of frozen peas and placed them on top of Lance’s ankle. “There. How’s that?”

 

Lace frowned and reached down, moving the bag a bit. “Thanks…” He shifted again, then looked up at Kolivan. “Um… can I ask you just one more thing? Then I won’t mention it again, okay?”

 

“Of course -- you can ask me anything you want.”

 

“Was Thace right? Do you… Really want it to go back to how it was.. Before… All this happened?” He waved a hand back and forth, uselessly.

 

Kolivan frowned. _I’m seriously going to kick Thace’s ass the next time I see him._ He knelt down next to Lance and reached out for his hand. “No. I absolutely do _not_ want to go back to the way things were before this. The only thing that I wish that I could change was that it all happened to you; I would take your place in a heartbeat if I could.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of Lance’s hand. “Lance -- I couldn’t be happier that we met.” Kolivan chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “We might’ve done things a little out of order with the whole living together thing, but I love having you here with me - even if the circumstances aren’t ideal.” He gave Lance a kiss on the cheek. “I really enjoy spending time with you.”

 

Lance blew out a breath. “Okay... Okay. I was really worried he was right. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t want you to change places with me. Because I don’t want you hurt. You’ve just… been so kind to me, even that first day when I was convinced you were going to tear me a new one for being late… instead, you apologized..”

 

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t be mad at you for being a few minutes late.” Kolivan waved his around. “Who knows how many times I’ve been late. It happens.” He smiled, “now how about we watch a movie together so you can relax a little? You’ve gotta be tired from all of this…”

 

Lance smiled, “Yeah, I am.. But, if you fall asleep this time, I can’t really move you around. My bodyguard slash boyfriend says I can't walk around right now.” His smile grew a little. “So, you should make sure you’re comfortable from the start.”

 

Kolivan blushed. “Fine.” He gently maneuvered Lance until he was spread out on the couch on top of him. He pressed the remote to start the movie. His hand was around Lance’s waist as he mumbled into his shoulder. “Boyfriend… I like the sound of that.”

 

* * *

 

“So… you are going to work today right?” Lance called from the couch, mildly worried as to exactly what Kolivan was doing in there. Part of him hoped that toast would be involved and part of him wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

 

He called out from the kitchen, “I hadn’t planned on it.” Kolivan turned the corner with a plate of toast in his hand; he gave it to Lance. “Sorry, but uh… you know that my cooking skills aren’t the best.”

 

“A plus for effort.” Lance smiled, touched at the attempt. “So… why aren’t you going? You know I literally can’t go anywhere right? The last thing you need to do is wait around on me all day. I won’t even clean I promise.”

 

“Seriously?” He cocked his head to the side and gestured to Lance’s body. “Look what happened the last time I left to go to work. I’m not taking any chances.”

 

Lance sighed. “Which is exactly why you need to go.” He looked up from the plate, face serious. “Just like, I need to remind myself that you don’t think this is all my fault, you have to be able to go to work without worrying about me. So, let me eat, water your plant, and take me up those damned stairs and I will sleep today. We both know I can’t even get down them on my own.. I already tried. Hell, call Antok if you need to. He’s creepy stalkery enough to keep me in hiding.”

 

Kolivan sighed, defeated. “I guess that’s a valid point…” He didn’t look about but he continued. “I’m not going to stay for the whole day though… and you better believe that I’m going to have Antok come by to check on you.”

 

Lance nodded. “Okay. Now, shoo. My hot boyfriend made me toast and I need to eat it. He needs to go get ready.” Lance then grinned up at Kolivan before biting into the slightly burnt toast.

 

“Yes, sir.” Kolivan chuckled. “I’ll be right back down, and then I’ll get you comfortable upstairs in bed.” He leaned over to give Lance a kiss on the cheek before he walked past.

 

Lance still complained when Kolivan moved him up the stairs, but before now it had been years since anyone had picked him up. But he still let Kolivan tuck him into bed, bring him a book and even water. His boyfriend was just sweet like that.

 

Once Kolivan was finally satisfied, Lance tossed him his keys. “Better give these to Antok, because I can’t go answer the door and you would be mad if I did. Go, terrify those guys you all got yesterday. I’m fine, I promise.”

 

Kolivan caught the keys out of the air as Lance tossed them. “You better believe I’m gonna terrify them all, not to mention Thace.” He placed the cordless phone from out in the hallway next to the bed, on the nightstand. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

 

Lance wiggled a bit, then sat up, wincing a little. “Hey wait you forgot something!”

 

He turned in the doorway. “What could I have possibly forgotten?”

 

Lance continued to motion Kolivan back over to him, before twisting the blanket with his fingers. “You forgot a goodbye kiss.” His face was red, but damnit, he wanted a kiss.

 

He walked over to Lance and bent over. Lance kissed him; it started out chaste until Lance tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Kolivan pulled back after a few seconds and chuckled, inches from Lance’s mouth; he rested his forehead against Lance’s and smiled. “Trying to get to stay here after all?”

 

Lance raised one hand in a so-so motion. “Not… really.. You do need to go.. But, I just.. Wanted to kiss you…” He tilted his head a bit more and kissed Kolivan’s nose. “Okay, I’m done.. Go and make them all cry, but record it for Antok if you actually do, or he’ll pout.”

 

Kolivan kissed Lance again and stood. “I’ll try to get someone to record it, but I’m not gonna make any promises.” He chuckled. “I’ll see you in a few hours, okay? Try to get some rest, Lance.”

 

He waved his book. “I’m not much of a reader, I’ll be out in an hour.” He waved, and pulled his blankets up.

 

***

 

When Kolivan walked into the station, the room was abuzz with activity; it all came to an abrupt stop when he threw his keys onto his desk with a clatter. Thace and Ulaz glanced up from where they were crowded around Antok’s desk.

 

Antok looked up from his paperwork and smiled. “Hey, man! Didn’t see you come in. How’s Lance?”

 

“He’s doing better, thanks.” Kolivan watched Thace stiffen in his seat. “I need to talk to you…”

 

Thace sighed as he stood to face Kolivan, “look…”

 

“No!” He slammed his hand into the top of his desk. “Not ‘look’ - do you realize how fucked up it was that you pushed Lance to do that?”

 

“Now, Kolivan -”

 

Kolivan turned to face Ulaz and pointed a finger at him. “Stay out of this. You’re just as much to blame for going along with his -” He jabbed a finger in Thace’s direction. “- piss-poor excuse of an undercover operation.”

 

Ulaz sat back in his chair and raised his hands in surrender. “I can’t deny that we’re both at fault here, but do you really think lashing out at us in this manner is an appropriate reaction?”

 

“Appropriate reaction!?”

 

He continued, “maybe you’ve let yourself get a little too _involved_ in this situation. It might be wise for you to take a step back…”

 

Antok, knowing better than to get himself in the middle of this exchange, grabbed his coffee mug and left for the breakroom.

 

***

 

Antok sighed; _This was bound to be a shitshow._ He pushed the door to the break room open and walked over to the coffee maker. Grabbing the coffee and a new coffee filter, he set the coffee to brew and leaned against the counter. He had a few minutes to kill while he waited on the coffee to brew, and loathe to interrupt Kolivan, Thace, and Ulaz, he pulled out his phone and dialed Kolivan’s number - to see how Lance was fairing.

 

It rang a few times before a tired sounding Lance answered. “Hello?”

 

“Hey!”

 

Lance made some kind of garbled sound. “Hey, man, I wasn’t expecting a call… Kolivan said you’d be sent to assure that I don’t brave the stairs.”

 

Antok chuckled. “Change of plans - I figured a call should suffice. Things are a little busy around here.”

 

“It’s kinda funny because of the two of us, you’re less likely to survive on your own…” Lance laughed before his tone grew serious. “You guys are okay, right?”

 

He nodded, before realizing that Lance couldn’t see him. “Yeah, yeah. We’re all good. Just -- things are a little heated right now with Kolivan, Thace, and Ulaz. And I figured I take a step back as not to get sucked into the middle of things.”

 

A sigh, “Man… I really wish he wouldn’t… It’s over and done. But, I gotta say, I’m kinda surprised. I thought you liked being in the middle of things.” The tease was weak but obvious.

 

“You’re seriously underestimating how much Kolivan cares about you. He’s pissed right now, and honestly, he’s got every right to be - they had no right to put you in that kind of situation. Haha,” he deadpanned. “Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to act like an adult from time to time.”

 

“I just thought that was how you guys did things. I mean, all I really know about cops is, you work too much, shoot things, and what I know from movies. Oh! Also that your shooting range looks like a weird form of office.”

 

He laughed, “yeah, I guess it does look like weird office. But Lance,” his voice got serious. “I want to apologize too for what they did. That’s _not_ how we do things - not here, and not anywhere else. Thace and Ulaz let themselves get entirely too wrapped up in this case, and that’s not an excuse for their behavior but still…” He paused. “You got hurt and that’s not okay; I want you to know that. No case is worth getting hurt over, no matter who you’re going after.”

 

“It’s really fine.. See, if you think about it…” There was a shifting sound, “it’s kind of good that they were so involved, isn’t that better than not caring at all? But, really, don’t apologize, it’s weird, besides, Kolivan already apologized enough for all of you. I just… Probably won’t be super friendly with them, which is fine, I don’t really think they like me.”

 

“It’s really not okay that they did what they did. Yes - to an extent, it was good that they got as involved as they did, but they aren’t some newbie cops. They’re both seasoned officers who should know better than to involve a civilian in some hairbrained, half-cocked undercover sting. You could’ve been injured even more seriously than you already were. And that’s not okay.” Antok sighed. “There’s the thing Lance, they do care about you - I think because Kolivan cares as deeply as he does; it’s kind of bled over onto us. If that makes any sense? Like -- He cares so much that we’ve all kind of gotten attached to you. That’s why this is so messed up - they cared too much and put you in danger.”

 

Lance was quiet for a few minutes. “Well… I can’t say I exactly get it… at least not in the way I probably should. But, still, no more apologies, okay? Just.. keep the bloodshed to a minimum, alright? He’ll be upset about it after he calms down. Please?”

 

“I’ll try - but I can’t make any promises.” He chuckled. “I should probably get going anyway; I just wanted to check up on you to see how you were feeling.”

 

Lance paused, “I feel about like 25 miles of run over bumblebee shit. But, I’m warm, and as comfortable as I can be. If you do stop by, Kolivan has my keys for you.”

“‘Bumblebee shit’? Hmm… now that’s a new one, but I like it. I’ll have to remember that.” Antok looked down at his watch and the finished coffee. “I hate to cut this short but I’ve got a shit-ton of work to get through; we’re still processing those four guys who jumped you. I want to make sure that we get as much as evidence as possible out of it so that what you went through doesn’t go to waste.”

 

“Right, have fun with that.. I’m going back to sleep, this book is boring and the stairs are my current mortal enemy so I’m stuck with sleep. Take it easy, though.”

 

“Yeah, you take it easy Lance. I’ll try to call again later if I’ve got the time.”

 

Antok ended the call and turned to pour himself a cup of coffee. He took his notes and coffee over to the rickety table in the middle of the room. Spreading out all of the evidence that they had so far, he painstakingly combed through it all, piece by piece. His head perked up as he came across a note in the margins of one page that there had been a security system on the side of the restaurant that had had cameras pointed at the parking lot. He pulled out his phone ad made a quick call to the tech department. With that done, he scooped up all of his papers and made his way down to their offices to grab the copy of the tape.

 

 _Oh_ , he thought, _this is gonna be good._

 

***

 

Kolivan was livid; he stepped forward. “ _What_ exactly do you mean by that?”

 

“I think he simply means that you’ve allowed yourself to be blinded by your, ah - affections for Lance.”

 

“Don’t you dare lecture me on feelings Thace. Or have you forgotten about that case we worked where Ulaz landed himself in the hospital? If I seem to recall -- you were inconsolable.

 

The both of them - Thace and Ulaz, shared a look and at least had the decency to look ashamed of themselves.

 

Kolivan continued. “My feelings towards Lance are not blinding me in my ability to do my job; I’ve been working this case, by the books - I might add - just as diligently as the rest of you.” He sighed, the fight draining out of him as he sunk into his chair. He placed his head in his hands. “I just -- what were the two of you thinking? He got hurt - bad, and because of this he thought that I was tired of him. A thought that the both of you put into his head -- that this case was more important than his safety and wellbeing.”

 

“Kolivan, I -- We’re so sorry. We let ourselves get carried away. We just wanted to find a way to bring this guy to justice, and that’s no excuse for our behavior.” Thace stood up and walked over to Kolivan, placing his hand on his shoulder, he continued. “I’ll apologize as many times as it takes --”

 

“We’ll both apologize.” Ulaz cut in from across the room.

 

Thace nodded. “We’ll both apologize as many times as it’ll take for you to believe us - to forgive us.”

 

Kolivan lifted his head and looked back and forth between the two of them. “It’s gonna take a while for me to trust the two of you again - like I had trusted you with Lance. And you know what? I think you owe him an apology as well - you made him into “bait” for your cause and the both of you should know better than to coerce a victim into playing a part that dangerous. Those men could’ve killed him.”

 

Ulaz hung his head, and Thace squeezed Kolivan’s shoulder. “We owe Lance much more than apology - that’s true.” He nodded his head. “We’ll do whatever it’s gonna take to gain his and your trust back.”

 

Antok poked his head into the doorway. “Actually --” He had a bundle of papers and a videotape in his hand. “I think I might be able to help with that.” He walked into the room and nodded. “First off, everything alright in here?” He looked to Kolivan for an answer.

 

“Not a hundred percent, but yeah; we’re done for now.” He straightened in his seat and swiveled towards Antok. “What have you got?”

 

He handed the videotape over to Kolivan, and nodded towards Thace and Ulaz. “You two got lucky with that little stunt you pulled. Those guys that jumped Lance? Got him close enough to the restaurant that everything was caught on their security feed.” He smiled. “We can even hear them mentioning Zarkon’s name. You know what this means?”

 

Ulaz stood up. “It means that, with all of the other evidence that we’ve gathered so far and with this tape, we can finally get that search warrant to get into his place.”

 

“Oh, man. We’re finally going to be able to nail him.” Thace smiled.

 

“I just faxed over the rest of the evidence and the transcripts to the district attorney.” Antok grinned. “We should have that warrant within the hour.

 

Kolivan stood up. “Alright, let’s get ready then. Who knows what we could be walking into here.” He looked around the room. “We’ve got to be prepared - bullet proof vests and I’ll call in for backup. We know that he’s got at least two guns; who knows how many more - or what else he might have stashed in that house.”

 

They all nodded.

 

“Let’s do this.”

 

* * *

 

Antok had been right - within the hour they had their search warrant and were prepared to carry it out. They had sent out an undercover officer to stake out Zarkon’s house. With the confirmation that he was present in the home and with the search warrant in hand, Kolivan stepped up to the front door and banged in the door. He had Antok beside him and another officer with a ballistic shield on his other side.

 

He banged on the door again after receiving no answer the first time.

 

“Open up! This is the Police Department! We’ve got a warrant to search the premises, if you refuse we’ll bust down the door!”

 

The door cracked open to reveal Zarkon in a business suit; he cocked an eyebrow. “May I see the warrant, Officer?” He held out his hand as Antok handed over the copy of the warrant. “Hmm. Well, it appears that I don’t have a choice in the matter then, do I?”

 

“No, it appears you don’t.” Kolivan gestured to the half open door, “Now, if you wouldn’t mind? Step aside and let us do our job.”

 

Reluctantly, Zarkon opened the door the rest of the way and gestured for them to pass. As Antok walked through the door, he grabbed Zarkon and quickly placed him in a pair of handcuffs.

 

He struggled against Antok. “What’s the meaning of this?! Am I under arrest?!”

 

“Not yet, you’re not. This is standard procedure to detain subjects for the safety of themselves and to protect us.” Antok shook his head. “Anyway, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about then. Unless… you’ve got something to hide?”

 

“I’m not talking anymore.”

 

“That’s fine. We can just wait here while everyone else does what they have to do.”

 

***

 

It didn’t take long for Kolivan. Thace, Ulaz and the crime scene investigators to search the entire house. A wide variety of firearms, many different types of ammunition, knives, and what appeared to be packages wrapped in foil and plastic - not to mention the blood stains that were found soaked through Zarkon’s mattress. Field tests run by crime scene technicians also found blood around the bathroom drains.

 

Kolivan walked downstairs to the entryway where Antok still stood with Zarkon; he nodded to him as Antok smiled.

 

Antok tightened the handcuffs on Zarkon’s wrists and began to read him his miranda rights.

 

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”

 

Zarkon struggled against Antok as he led him to the back of a police cruiser. “What the fuck is the meaning of all this?!”

 

“You know exactly what the meaning of all this is. All those years of skirting the law and flying under the radar have finally caught up to you. You can thank your buddies that you sent to beat up Lance.” He shrugged. “Nothing you can do about it now, except to leave the rest up to the justice system.”

 

Antok slammed the door of the car shut after he placed Zarkon inside. He smiled; it felt good to finally nail this guy.

 

* * *

 

Kolivan looked down at Lance; he put his hand on his shoulder. “Hey -- you know that you don’t have to come today, right? We only needed you to testify against the guys that attacked you.” He gestured to the courtroom behind them. “Zarkon’s trial is going to be a lot of sitting around and waiting for you…”

 

Lance shrugged. “I’m not here for him.” He lightly poked Kolivan’s arm. “I’m here for you, and Antok.” He glanced around a bit. “Besides, I’d be doing a lot of sitting around at home too.”

 

He leaned down to give Lance a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks.”

 

The doors behind them opened as an officer stuck his head out into the hallway; he motioned for Kolivan to follow him.

 

“Alright, guess I’m up next.” He turned towards Lance, “hopefully this won’t take too long; Antok, Thace and Ulaz would have already covered everything in their testimonies so I should be fairly quick.”

 

“Well… Either way, it’ll go fine. You guys said you had him… Uh what was it? Cold?” He tilted his head then shrugged. “Either way, go growl properly, like the big bad cop you are.” He grinned up at his boyfriend.

 

Kolivan chuckled. “Yeah, we’ve got him pretty good on all of this.” The Officer holding the door opened gestured to his watch. “Okay, I’ve really gotta get in there now. I’ll be right back.”

 

***

 

The trial ended up taking the majority of the day.

 

Kolivan’s testimony was over fairly quickly - barely a half hour had passed before he walked back out into the hallway with Antok, Thace and Ulaz in tow. He walked over to Lance, “The jury has to deliberate now.” He shrugged. “We were told to stick around for another hour or two - it shouldn’t take them too long to come back with a verdict.”

 

Antok snorted. “With the amount of evidence we had against him - I’m surprised that they haven’t come back already.”

 

Kolivan nodded, “why don’t we all go grab some coffee downstairs while we wait?”

 

Lance caught Antok’s arm and used it to steady himself as he got up, grinning at the man cheekily. “Didn’t you say that there was always one that held out for a while?” He kept his hold, while carefully putting his foot down, testing his weight a bit. “Coffee sounds good though.”

 

Kolivan held his hand out towards Lance in case he needed to be steadied. “Think you’ll be able to make the walk downstairs? I can always carry you if you need me too.” He winked.

Lance flushed and pinched Antok’s arm hard when he started laughing. “Those who can’t manage to wash their own clothes do not get to laugh at the one that does it for him.” He pushed at Antok, before pouting up at Kolivan. “No carrying!”

Thace laughed. “You still can’t wash your own clothes, Antok? How have you survived on your own this long?”

 

“Now, now. No teasing.” Ulaz had his arm around Thace’s shoulders. “If I remember correctly, it wasn’t too long ago that you mixed up our laundry and dyed the majority of our things pink…”

 

“Pink? Really?” Antok chuckled.

 

Lance groaned, “Oh my god… all of you are hopeless.” He covered his face, shaking his head back and forth. “Ulaz….. Please tell me…. One of you can cook?”

 

“I can cook… not well, but I can cook. Thace is pretty much a lost cause though so…” He shrugged.

 

“Well.. at least you can cook some.. And Kolivan is getting better…” He smiled up at him, before shaking his head. “I have got to get back on my old schedule again… all this sitting around is driving me nuts..”

 

Kolivan grabbed his hand. “You’ve still got a few days until you’re at a hundred; we don’t need you hurting yourself even more.”

 

“Yeah… yeah, I know…” He shook his head. “At least I’ll have plenty to keep me busy when I do get cleared. “Oh, right! Coran called me earlier, he said that he’s willing to give me a hand on Sunday moving some things. Still … um… Willing to help?”

 

“Of course!” Kolivan fidgeted. “Actually I wa--” He was interrupted by Antok’s phone going off.

 

“Oh! That was quick. Looks like the jury came back already.”

 

“So… are you going to tell us the verdict or just leave us all hanging?” Kolivan moved to look at Antok’s phone.

 

“Guilty.” He smiled. “On all counts. Hah! We did it!”

 

Lance grinned. “You guys deserve it!” He he leaned a little on the hall wall, before clapping for the group of them. “I had a feeling you all would nail him!”

 

They all smiled as Lance clapped for them.

 

Ulaz stepped forward and put a had on Antok’s shoulder. “Seeing as we never got the chance to get that coffee - how about we go out to eat? We could all use the break.”

 

“That sounds great!” Antok turned towards Lance. “You’ll come with us, right?”

 

“Of course! Unless, you’re trying to ditch me, in which case, I’m going to have to ask Kolivan to take you out.” He pushed off the wall carefully shifting his weight. “Yeah.. I’m good to battle the stairs.”

 

Kolivan chuckled; he nodded towards the others. “Why don’t you all go ahead? Lance and I’ll catch up. Just text me where we’re going.”

 

Thace nodded. “Sounds good.” He grabbed Ulaz’s hand and turned towards the stairs. He looked over at Antok. “You going to drive with us? Or take your own car?”

 

“Oh please. And be stuck with the two of you being all lovey-dovey with each other?” He pretended to gag. “No thanks, I’ll pass. I’ll follow behind your car.” He waved his hand towards Kolivan and Lance. “See you’s at the restaurant!”

 

“Yeah, see you in a few…” Kolivan watched them go then turned towards Lance. “You sure you don’t want me to carry you out to the car?”

 

Lance shook his head several times. “You’ve carried me enough, it’s fine really.” He took a couple of limping steps, paused long enough to shift his weight, and looped his arm with Kolivan’s. “You good?”

 

He smiled. “Yeah, I’m good.” They slowly made their way down the stairs, stopping every few steps so that Lance could take a break. “Actually, there’s something that I wanted to talk to you about…” He grabbed Lance’s hand to steady him as they stepped off the last step.

 

Lance kept on hand on the rail, as he scowled uselessly at his foot, before looking up at Kolivan. “Okay?” His eyebrows shifted and a frown crossed his face before he shrugged. “I can’t think of anything I did.. So… What’s up?”

 

“Oh, no. No, no; you haven’t done anything wrong, not at all. It’s just… um.” Kolivan held the door open for Lance. “I was thinking… and you can say no! No pressure, but… uh… I’ve really enjoyed having you stay with me, so I was wondering if…” He stopped to take a breath and turned to face Lance fully. “If - you’d want to move your stuff into my house -- Instead of into your apartment.” Kolivan sighed and ducked his head.

 

Lance got a little more worried with each pause, before his mouth fell open a little. He wanted him to what? Surely, Lance had heard that wrong? No… “Um… well…” He twisted his fingers together, face slowly turning red. “Um… my stuff… is kind of already there…”

 

Kolivan looked hopeful. “So… is that a yes?”

 

A nod. “Yes.. I’d like to stay..” Lance took step, then shifted a bit. “I like staying with you..” His voice was low and quiet, his eyes fixed on his hands. “It’s nice to make you breakfast… Or watch movies at night… I like… Sharing the couch with you… and watching you touch the plant in the mornings…”

 

Kolivan smiled as he grabbed Lance’s chin to make him look at him. “Thank you…” He murmured as he glanced at Lance’s lips. He leaned down to kiss him. Pulling apart, Kolivan sighed. “Thank you for saying yes; for making me so happy these past few weeks; for putting up with me even after all that’s happened…”

 

“Hey no, I should be saying that! I’m the one that dragged you all into this… I’m the one that runs around cleaning all the time, and that you _literally_ had to carry around for almost two weeks! I should thank you…”  Lance threaded his fingers together with Kolivan’s, holding them tightly. “So thank _you_ , Kolivan.”

 

“And I’ll carry you around for as long as you need me too.” He smiled and leaned down for another kiss. They were interrupted as Kolivan’s phone went rang. Looking down at the display, he saw Antok’s name flashing across the screen. He chuckled. “And that would be everyone else wondering where we went.” He looked at Lance. “You still want to join them?”

 

Lance, flushed a bit, then reluctantly nodded. “IF we don’t then they’ll probably call or text you every three minutes.” He leaned a little more into Kolivan’s side. “Yeah.. we can go.”

 

He grabbed Lance’s hand again and squeezed. “C’mon, then, let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> quiiiznak: obviously we have no chill? these keep getting longer and longer. Anyway! We've gotten very attached to this ship in such a short amount of time and the feedback we always receive is beyond amazing, so thank you for making us want to contribute more to this ship!
> 
> fyi - if you're ever in NJ, Carollo's is a real restaurant and I highly recommend going there. Oh! and Kolivan's phone number? It's only one digit off from mine, so do what you will with that information.
> 
>  
> 
> If you enjoyed it - let us know what you thought! We love reading all your comments!


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